Life as we know it
by Moonphase
Summary: Post-film. Cover by Twisted-G (deviantartist). Mickey and Lizzy are a couple. Fred belongs to Natalie. Life is ordinary. But is this what everyone needs? Are they truly happy? Unknown to them, dark forces are growing in the Otherworld and as these things begin to take root in the real world, Fred's brutal past comes to back to haunt him. Eventual LXF, but it's slooow burn!
1. Ordinary

A.N.- This is a plot heavy fic, so if you just want LizzyxFred fluff then this isn't for you*. I have no beta, (not through want of asking) so please forgive, but by all means point out, any mistakes. If you could review that'd be great.

****SPOILER****Fred and Lizzy will be a couple eventually in this fic. So please be patient.

Mickey really felt bad.

He loved Lizzy; he really did. She was smart and sweet and very beautiful. Unlike a few months back when she seemed a little...restrained (he assumed her ex-husband had a lot to do with that, but they never talked about Charles now) she now was very much like the girl he knew all those years ago. However, there was something missing. The thing that first entranced Mickey about Lizzy was a slightly crazy wildness she had; she was like a wild horse, beautiful, majestic and a little dangerous.

One of his fondest memories of his adult years (secondary to all his memories of his daughter, of course) was the date they went on. Lizzy had gone and thrown stuff all over the place. It was dumb and pretty dangerous, but at the same time so wild and free. And, unlike when they were kids and he had just watched her in awe, this time, he could join in! He had the strength to finally join in! God, it had been so much fun, they got thrown out and banned, but heck, what did that matter?

After a few weeks of climbing up trees to rescue her, and helping her find a new apartment and job, Lizzy finally agreed that they could begin a sort of relationship that was further than friendship. Mickey had been ecstatic. Lizzy was introduced to Natalie and the two had developed a great bond.

That isn't to say there weren't difficulties. Natalie's mother originally hadn't been happy about Lizzy, and felt like she was being replaced. For the first few months it was like the dreaded Custody Battle they had fought after the divorce. Natalie's mom was always trying to keep Natalie at her house longer than what was allowed, and would constantly complain and bad mouth Lizzy (who she didn't even know) whilst Natalie was there. While he had been pretty disappointed with his ex's behaviour, he was really impressed by Natalie. His young daughter had often been quite an anxious creature, and the divorce of her parents had crushed her young spirit. But recently, just before he and Lizzy decided to try to become a couple, Natalie's feisty nature and resilience had really improved. She hadn't listened to her mother, but seemed to understand that her mother was hurt and angry. Hence, Lizzy and Natalie's relationship had not been compromised.

Then there was the fact that he wanted the relationship to progress more quickly, but Lizzy was happy to amble along. Mickey wanted Lizzy to move in with him; he couldn't understand why Lizzy wouldn't. She was definitely having money problems. The job she now had was as a part time administrator at a local nursery 'Little People's Haven' that was run by an elderly Welsh couple. Though they were kind enough, they didn't have the money or resources to take Lizzy on full-time, or to give her a pay rise. Lizzy didn't ever have quite enough money and having her own apartment, as small and unfurnished as it was, was eating up the majority of her pay. Then, including electric, gas, tax and her TV licence bills (she hadn't enough for an internet connection) she barely had enough to eat. However if she moved in with him and Natalie he could combine his (far more substantial) income with hers, and they could get along nicely. However she would have none of it. She kept saying that she valued her independence too much, and just wanted to be alone for a while, just to see if she could do it. Mickey was no misogynist, and he totally agreed with everything involving 'girl power.' But to him, her moving in was a) practical and b) a sign that she loved him.

But she just wouldn't play ball.

However, even though this made him feel kinda sad, he didn't feel bad about it. No, rather, he began feeling bad some months afterwards. Mickey pushed for them to be together, he spent a lot of time with Lizzy, as much as he could. Inevitably, they got closer emotionally. However, it wasn't quite the relationship he had expected.

After leaving their neighbourhood as a child, Mickey had been distraught at the thought of never seeing Lizzy again. As he feared, his life which had once been so full of vibrant colour faded into a black and white world with only shades serving as variety. Life became boring and Mickey was boring with it. He got older, went to school, did his homework. He grew up and got a job. He had a girlfriend who he started dating in his first year of college. They got married after graduation. He had a kid and they all settled down. It was all so standard and boring. All the while, Mickey would dream of Crazy Lizzy and all the exciting things she would be doing, He imagined her being the kind that attracted loads of boys, that would go on to travel around the world, get some really cool job. Basically, live a life less ordinary.

The divorce was actually the first step to setting himself free. Most people hated the idea of divorce, but Mickey really did it would be the making of him and Joanne. Joanne, his wife, did not. The divorce left her angry and resentful; she really had wanted it to work. But Mickey knew it wouldn't. They had gotten together too young. She had been his only girlfriend, so he had experienced nothing else. And they were far too different. Joanne was an ex-debutante, the daughter of a Mayor and a Headmistress. Joanne herself went on to be a college professor in history and it showed. Her long red hair would be coiled up in a lavish, intricate bun, her thin lips a deep red, her skin white from the lack of going outside and her thin body was often clad in a long pencil skirt and a button up shirt completed with a sensible, but classy, pair of high polished shoes. She was in every sense a young, sensible professional, a yuppie, a working mom, a modern day super woman.

When she had finally agreed to a divorce she had screamed at him that she would 'give him time to get over his stupid mid-life crisis, even if it was at the detriment of their daughter.' But Mickey knew it wasn't a mid-life crisis. When he decided that he needed a divorce, he had been sitting alone in what had been their kitchen. Natalie was tucked up in bed and Joanne was missing, doing a late shift at work as usual. Mickey was feeling kind of neglected. But worse still, meditating on their relationship, Mickey found that he wasn't pining for her company. He actually preferred his friends or work mates, but even her company would do because he was so lonely. He realised that he hadn't loved her for years, and possibly never had. Maybe what got them together originally was little more than a crush (he had always loved powerful, driven and passionate women) and maybe they stayed together because that had been the 'right thing to do.' Maybe their relationship was nothing more than habit.

Then looking to his future, Mickey saw before him endless weekends of cleaning the car out, of vicious whispered arguments over his wife never cooking and always staying out late, of excruciating dinner parties with people they didn't like but felt compelled to impress, of Christmases spent with the in-laws who were never happy with their daughter marrying someone so inferior. Mickey would always be grateful for the blessing that was his daughter, but he just couldn't stand it anymore. Looking around, their pretty little house in their pretty little cul-de-sac in their pretty little suburb suddenly felt like a prison. The ring on his finger suddenly seemed like a constant smirking reminder of his entrapment. His wife was a stranger he was increasingly beginning to resent, his life was the equivalent of a drawn out, miserable ache and his daughter wasn't enough to base all his happiness on.

The thought of Lizzy and her wild freedom returned and he made his decision. He would be like Lizzy, he would throw caution to the wind and for the first time in over twenty years he would finally live.

Of course, when Lizzy came back into his life he had seen it as a sign from the Powers That Be. And it had been awesome. Everything was new and interesting and exciting. Lizzy was nothing like Joanne, she was polite and awkward, she was small, with big doe-like eyes, her short bob and her childish clothes. He never felt intimidated by her but he was still awed by her beauty and charm. He never felt stupid around her or like he wasn't good enough, even when she had been fighting so hard to get Charles back.

However, as the months of dating wore on, Mickey began to realise that while she wasn't Joanne, she wasn't his idealised version of Lizzy either. As said before, one of his fondest memories was their date at the restaurant. What Mickey hadn't realised until recently was that Lizzy had not enjoyed that date. On the contrary, she had been mortified. All her crazy antics were not her own, she had insisted in later conversations, but _Fred'_s.

Lizzy was good with Natalie. They got on well, but their relationship was that of a favourite aunt and niece, not of sisters or friends. Lizzy was, in every aspect an adult; she was level-headed, she had real problems like bills and her appearance. As these real life ordinary issues came to light, Mickey told himself that it didn't matter. He had been idealising her for twenty odd years, of course she couldn't live up to his standards.

But it was worse than that. Mickey felt that they were not in a real relationship. They never really argued or got passionate. It was all very...tame. They just ambled along together, like two friendly acquaintances, too unfamiliar to actually fight or argue like a normal couple, but familiar enough to feel too embarrassed to simply stop calling one another so often.

A year after meeting her and them deciding to give the relationship a go; after pushing and pushing for the relationship to be more serious'; after introducing Natalie to Lizzy; after upsetting Joanne, Mickey was horrified to find that he did not want to be in a relationship with Lizzy anymore.

xxXXxx

Janey and Lizzy sat sipping coffee in a swanky new Coffee Shop just off Main Street.

"So, how are things with Natalie's mom? What was her name, Jodie?" Janey queried, peering at her mousy friend.

"Oh, erm, well things are a little better," Lizzy replied anxiously. She pulled at the bottom of her shirt and took in a deep breath. "And I'm sure thing will get better. And it's Joanne. Natalie's mom is called Joanne." She flicked back her hair and beamed happily. Janey returned it, pleased her long-term friend was recovering well from her trauma with her ex-husband and mother.

"So she isn't whispering in her little girl's ear anymore? No more stories about the mean raven-haired witch who stole daddy?"

"No," Lizzy said laughing a little, though it really wasn't funny. Joanne had actually told her daughter a bedtime story involving those aspects. It was sad really, the first time Natalie got a story from her mom and it was nothing more than a cheap shot at Lizzy. "But you know Natalie never really fell for it any way."

"I know. She's a sharp kid." Janey remembered back to the first time and so far only time she met Natalie. She had never met Mickey, but she had met up with Lizzy one day and saw the blonde haired kid hiding behind Lizzy's legs. Lizzy explained that Mickey had to go to work for an urgent meeting, and she was babysitting.

Natalie was an odd child, that was for sure, but Janey was odd, and so was Lizzy, so to Janey being odd wasn't a bad thing. It was just another aspect of someone's character, like having red hair or green eyes. The little girl had often seemed to be in a world of her own; excitedly talking to someone she could not see. She and her invisible pal mostly kept out of the women's way, but they could hear excited shrieking and footsteps up stairs. When they decided to go check on her, they saw most of the landing was in disarray. Natalie was safe however, red cheeked, out of breath and very happy. The mess was nothing that couldn't be tidied away, and Lizzy didn't want to tell off Natalie, she said that if anyone caused the mess, it was Fred. And Janey accepted that. However, Natalie had never confirmed it was Fred who she played with. She refused to tell any of the adults her friend's name.

"Fred helped her I think," Lizzy said bringing Janey out of her thoughts.

"Yeah I was just thinking of him." She replied. "So do you still see him, or get glimpses of him?"

"No, he just plays with Natalie."

Janey detected a slight wistful note in Lizzy's voice, "hey," she warned, making Lizzy look at her with wide eyes. "Don't forget all the trouble he caused! Fred is clearly designed to keep small children happy but put him in the real world with adults and..." Unable to articulate her thoughts into words, Janey flayed her arms around a little, a physical description of the chaos Fred managed to cause.

"Oh, I know," Lizzy replied quickly. "Gosh I remember all that craziness with the boat, I'm sorry Janey, and the doctors and the restaurant. Boy oh boy, it was too much for me, you know?"

"Well, everything did turn out alright. I mean the boat situation went well despite the temporary homelessness and Mickey had fun in the restaurant."

Lizzy rolled her eyes, "I think Fred is a bad example on Mickey. The other day, Natalie went next door pulled up all of Mr. Grangers flowers and then threw them at him windows! The poor guy, he had spent months working on them. Natalie said that 'her friend' had said that evil things were in the house and that the flowers were play pretend bombs." Lizzy didn't mention that Natalie never said 'evil things' but 'an evil old wanker' instead. "Really, she should have been told off. I mean, c'mon Janey, she can't grow up thinking you can annihilate people's gardens. And what if there were rocks or stones in the mud? She could have smashed a window. Anyway, when Mickey found out, he just laughed and changed the subject." Lizzy shook her head and sat back. "Her mom is too strict and never allows her to do anything, but I swear Mickey is too easy going, it's as if...as if..." She blushed and trailed off.

Janey knew she needed to carry on, "as if what honey? Tell me."

Lizzy looked to the side guiltily before leaning in. "It's as if," she whispered, as though Mickey was hiding in the small bush behind them, "it's as if he doesn't really care about the kind of person she's going to grow up to be. I want her free and happy, but I don't want her to be too much like Fred."

"Wild and out of control?"

"Exactly.

Janey observed Lizzy closely for a moment. Being a good friend is a hard thing to do. Being a good friend means sometimes telling someone things that might hurt them. And when you are friends with someone as emotionally fragile as Lizzy, it was tough to know when to say something and when to hold back. In any case, Fred had, to a degree, Janey's sympathy.

"What is it Janey, you're giving me that look?"

"'_That'_ look?" Janey raised her eyebrows in playful innocence making Lizzy grin. "Yeah, that psychiatrist-come-slightly-disapproving-Vicar look. What do you want to say?"

Janey sighed and leaned forward being careful with her mug of coffee. "Lizzy, do you think you are basing Natalie and her situation too closely to your own childhood? Natalie has a lot of things in common with your five-year-old self, but her situation isn't the same."

Lizzy was silent, but eyeing Janey cautiously.

"What I mean is," Lizzy's friend continued patiently, "is that maybe you are basing Mickey on your own father. Your dad, as kind as he was, ultimately let you down." Janey shrugged and leaned back. "The men you have gone for before Mickey have always been stern, macho men who treated you like dirt. But then Mickey is different, he's kind and soft, like your dad. Maybe you're worried that, unlike Charles for all his faults, Mickey will be as _laissez-faire_ as your own father. You aren't worrying about your own abandonment anymore, but you are projecting all your old anxieties on Natalie and Mickey."

"Well," replied Lizzy slowly, as if mulling over each word carefully. "If I am what can I do? And why would I be concerned about Fred's influence also? He was my saviour as a child."

"_Therapy_, Lizzy , that's what you can do. Oh don't give me that look! It's alright, lots of people have therapy nowadays and it isn't going to end with you being locked up in your old bedroom again, honestly!" After rolling her eyes, Lizzy fixed Janey with an unconvinced stare before sipping her coffee. She hated arguing with people and was more the passive-aggressive type.

Janey continued, "if you get therapy, it gives you someone to talk to, to reason out your problems with. It'll be like when you worked out your issues with Fred's help, only this won't be destructive in the process." She sipped her coffee before continuing calmly, "besides you are worried about Fred and his influence on Natalie. Which is reasonable," Janey remembered back to when she saw her friend sopping wet, her hair half cut off and her admission that the house boat had sunk. Yep, it definitely reasonable to be wary of Fred... "he was a help when you were a child, but it didn't help things between your parents. It wasn't a cause, I know, your parents were a mess before he arrived-"

"They were the reason he came in the first place."

"Yeah, I know. But what I'm saying is Fred didn't help. So as an adult, you worry about him." Janey shrugged. It was difficult keeping up with Lizzy about Fred. If she criticised Fred, Lizzy would leap to his defence. If she ever said anything positive about Fred, Lizzy would grumble about all the madness he caused. Janey knew this was because Lizzy didn't know how she felt about him herself; Janey was sure, with all the knowing of her amateur psychology, this was all to do with Lizzy's ambiguous relationship with her parents."You're afraid that you and Mickey will repeat your own parent's mistakes, and that Natalie will suffer."

As Lizzy's shoulders slumped and her eyes looked miserably down at her cooling coffee, Janey patted her hand in a grandmother fashion.

"Therapy, Lizzy."

xxXXxx

Running on bright pink clouds, Fred and the others began laughing hysterically. This was a very serious situation, yet they just couldn't help it. It was in their nature. Anything serious got laughed at. And so did anything funny. Well, basically anything was funny to them- even possible death.

And right now death wasn't just a possibility. It was likely. Which is why they were running as well as laughing.

Ah, running.

Fred loved running. Whoooo! Faster, faster, faster! It was like running was the physical re-enactment of what his brain was going through on a constant basis. He hardly ever slept, or ate, or rested, or stayed still. His mind whooshed along all the time. Everything was colours and lights and noise and fun! Fred loved the Kids of course, but it was so nice to be able to move without worrying about a small human child he was leaving behind (or unintentionally injuring them by running them over.) Yep running, the wind in his hair and face, the whirl of colours around him, the deadly creatures on his trail... ah...running!

He and his team mates spread out, causing angry screeches of giant deadly birds behind them. Leaping off the clouds Fred hit the ground running. The landscape looked like the place every children's TV character seemed to live; pink, fluffy clouds contrasted horribly against a perfect blue sky, lush green rolling hills covered in flowers which were lollipops and short grass, and the occasional yellow path, which Fred ignored. The ground was soft, a little like a bouncy castle. Fred resisted the temptation to gambol down the hill. He definitely would be caught and killed if he did that. Stifling a giggle and trying not to be afraid he hurled himself forward whilst simultaneously beginning to Fade. It was the first time he ever tried Fading whilst still moving. It had never occurred to him to try it before. But then, his life was on the line here. While Fred hated the idea of dying and was a coward as a result, he did admit that being threatened with death had managed (amazingly) to improve his already impressive creativity. First time for everything eh? Fade...fade...c'mon Fred...fade...

His hair brushed forward as giant wings beat the air behind him...ah they were catching up. The thing squawked, its proximity so close that the loud screech nearly made him fall over in shock and pain. Just a bit further, just a bit further and he would be safe...

Fade...fade...

Green light flecked with glitter began to glow around him, clouding his vision.

Fade...fade...

Natalie was sitting calmly in the back garden when Fred suddenly came running out of nowhere and went flying straight into the garden hedge.

"Fred!" She called happily. His legs, the only thing showing as the rest of him was submerged in leaves and branches, flailed about a little (much to her amusement) before Fred finally righted himself, turned, grinned and ran up to her. She held her arms out for a hug, but of course, he didn't hug her, he just knelt down by her side and said, "alright Nit-face?"

Natalie, like many small children, seldom said anything, but related her thoughts more often in her expression. She stared at Fred, analysing his face, before smiling gleefully. He returned the grin and, a little smugly, tapped a pocket on his childlike dungarees. Natalie's imagination had changed Fred's outfit ever so slightly from when he had belonged to Lizzy. He still looked like an adult in a child's clothing though. "I have a gift for you," he announced. He watched Natalie smile and jump a little in excitement before pulling out a long silver necklace complete with an emerald jewel. Natalie stared at it in amazement. It was like something a grown up would wear! She pointed at herself anxiously.

"Yep, it's for you," Fred nodded emphatically, before placing the necklace over her head. "However," he leaned close to her conspiratorially, she leaned towards him, placing her ear near his mouth, "you must keep it a secret!" She nodded. "I don't want anyone to steal it from you. But if someone does get it, you must say, "Drop Dead Fred gave it to me. It's just a present!" Can you do that?"

"Drop Dead Fred gave it to me," She repeated, following his mouthing closely, "It's just a present."

Blessing her with a rub on the head and telling her she wasn't at all bad considering she was female, the pair ran off to play hide and seek. After twenty minutes, Fred completely forgot that he gave her anything at all. Such was his fragmented, childlike mind. He'd remember, when he really had to.

There is a place that is both far away and very close to you. It is where all the Other live. And the place is called Elsewhere. Elsewhere was split into two places. One was ruled by the Ljósálfar. It was bright and colourful and the souls of dead children liked to rest there. The elves and fairies used it as their abode.

The other was ruled by the Dökkálfar and this place was the opposite. It was dark and cold and plain. No souls or spirits went there is they could help it.

Some would say it was heaven and Hell. Or Elysium and Hades. Or Asgard and Ginungagap. In this dark place, something deep within its bowels began to stir.

It was waking up. It was hungry and angry.

Slowly it began to uncoil itself, becoming self aware. Around it its small minions also began to rouse themselves. Their Queen was awakening. And she was hungry. Hungry and angry.


	2. Annabella

Annabella preened in front of the mirror. Carefully she smoothed on her rouge lipstick. Then she added a fine layer of lip gloss. She re-applied her eye liner and added an extra layer of mascara. She tidied up the blusher on her cheeks and checked her face and neck to make sure her skin tone was equal. Finally she added some conditioner to her hair, a little hairspray for gloss and to hold it, and then some moisturiser on her hands. There, she had her war paint on. She practiced a few grins in the mirror before stepping out of the stinking public toilets into the Chucky Cheese. A few toddlers ran past her screaming. Their faces were covered in face paint smeared by snot and drool. She shuddered. Why would anyone want children?

She was only here because Stephen, her new beau, was determined for her to meet his children. And Stephen was rich, powerful and handsome; she would be a fool to refuse. Annabella was vain and self centred but she wasn't naive. She was going to be thirty one in just a few months. Yet she was still unmarried, and her trust fund was all but spent. No way was she going out to get a job; she wasn't one of the proletariat! She was beautiful and of good stock; it should have been easy for her to snag a rich husband and live out the rest of her days as a rich socialite and hostess. All her friends had managed to do as such. But for some reason, Annabella had struggled. She could find rich men, or handsome men, but they were almost always love cheats, already married, unable to commit, on the verge of bankruptcy or secretly bankrupt and one was in prison for embezzlement.

For a short time Annabella had lost herself and in a fit of depression and desperation, had tried to get a job as a model. However, the hours were long, the searching for work tireless, she hadn't appreciated criticism or all the orders photographers shouted out and, as at this stage she had been twenty-five, she was already considered 'over the hill'. It had been a mortifying experience.

She had then settled on that ridiculous car-salesman who was separated from his crazy wife. However, it still didn't work out, even though she had lowered her standards so much. First of all, he lied to her, saying his wife was weak, small, mousy and generally pathetic. Annabella had met the wife (she couldn't remember her name) once; she had been a bombshell. The wife was wearing this tight little dress (it was a stupid colour, but still) and basically threw herself on Charles! Annabella had been so furious that she had such stiff competition! Then, the final thing that destroyed whatever relationship they had was when he went back to his crazy wife, doing a sort of Bertha-in-the-attic by keeping his wife locked up at home and high on pills. Annabella did a Jane Eyre and got the hell out of his life quickly.

The last she heard, his wife had an overdose which resulted in her passing out, waking up, wiping her boogers on Charles' face and walking out of his life cackling like a witch the entire time.

God she was glad she was out of that mess.

Still, she was very aware that Stephen was her last chance of money and marriage. They had hit it off at a birthday party held in Santa Monica. He wasn't that good looking, was ten years her senior and only a bank clerk, but he was stable and seemed sweet enough. He had a Blue Lagoon, she had a Sex on the Beach and together they spent the evening laughing and talking about their families and crazy past relationships. Under the guise of general conversation, she gleaned some important facts. Stephen had been married, but was recently divorced. The divorce had been bitter. And three kids were involved.

Three kids he doted on and she met today.

Moody fourteen year old Sacha, a little emo Tim Burton fan, eleven year old Ke$ha fan Becky (Annabella instantly despised the little girl as her face was _covered_ in freckles) and last but not least three year old Andy who, like all toddlers, had a god/tyrant complex.

When they first met, they had just stared at her and she had stared right back as if looking at another species. Annabella did not like children and they did not like her. It was just the way it was.

Had Annabella known what was going to happen to them in just a few hours time, even she would have had the decency to be kind.

But she didn't know.

"Oh, so Sacha," she grinned a fake grin at the oldest boy, who only scowled in response, "how is school?"

"It sucks."

Her face froze and an 'oh' was all she could muster. Sacha bit into his pizza savagely, still glowering.

"Don't you like your pizza Anna?" Stephen looked concerned.

She giggled and tugged at one of her curls (getting angry looks from the children as she did so.) Looking down at her pizza slice she did all she could not to throw up then and there. The dank bread was floating the almost luminous orange grease that was oozing out of the fake, stringy cheese.

Seriously, the things she did for love. Oh well, she would have to go native for at least today.

Gingerly she picked up her pizza, the rank, soggy bread base sticking on her fingers, and she took out a small bite. As she pulled away, all the piled on cheese and various meats and peppers came off with it, slobbering down her chin.

"That's more like it!" Crowed Stephen and she wiped her face furiously. The children smiled nastily.

God this was humiliating!

After what seemed forever, the meal finally ended. The two oldest argued amongst themselves, and the toddlers wiped his dribble and left over food in patterns over his portion of the table.

Annabella looked up at Stephen, making her eyes as big and wide as possible. "When are the children going home, lover?"

"What? Don't you like them?" He sounded panicked.

"Of course I do," she batted her eyelashes, "they're adorable, but I kinda wanna be all alone with daddy. I'm selfish that way." She shrugged and grinned at him.

He had a blush and a silly grin on his face. (Neither of the adults had noticed that the two oldest had stopped arguing and were watching the scene with jealous eyes.) But before he could say anything, his mobile rang.

He answered it immediately; Annabella had long learned that guys would never ignore a phone call for her, no matter how attractive she was. It got her down but there wasn't anything she could do about it; such was the curse of being a trophy girlfriend to workaholics.

"Yep. Oh hi honey."

Honey? Must be the ex wife. Why did he still call her by a pet-name?

The children had all sat up and were watching tensely. She smiled at them but they ignored her. That was fine by her. She didn't like them anyway...dirty little things...she never liked kids...

"Oh...oh...well why don't I have them?"

Now Annabella sat up.

"No I mean...what's the point of taking them all the way to their aunt Sally? My place is closer. It'll be fun. Ok. Ok. Hahaha. Yeah, it's fine. Ok, have a nice night. Well, you won't but...you know. Ok bye...bye."

He hung up and grinned at his hell spawn.

"Guess what kids? You're staying with daddy tonight!"

They all cheered as Annabella felt the colour drain from her face.

"And so is Annabella!" He crowed. That killed the cheer. The children looked back at Annabella. Like when they first met, their faces were equal pictures of horror and disdain.

xxXXxx

Annabella was livid.

In the car she sat in a furious silence as Stephen sang 'one hundred green bottles' at the top of his voice. The toddler joined in, but Sacha and Becky were as sullen as Annabella. If Stephen noticed he never said anything.

Stephen's apartment was swanky and cool and sophisticated, just as Annabella liked them. It was high up in a sky scraper with large windows revealing the city sky line. It was beautiful. The interior was clean, clinical and all painted white.

The thing that ruined this apartment was his children's bedrooms. Even though he only had them every other weekend, he still let them have their own rooms. It was absurd.

Even worse was the fact that they were hideous.

Becky had this room that was painted a lurid pink that almost blinded Annabella when she had first snuck into it. Across the walls were glitter butterfly stickers. It was sickeningly sweet and far too cute for such an ugly little girl

"I bet their mother is hideous," she smirked to herself. "I bet she's a typical soccer mom, all chubby with frizzy hair and always wearing a pull over to hide her fat belly."

Sacha's bedroom was painted in military green and covered with clothes and comic books. It always stunk.

And finally there was the nursery for baby Andy. Granted that was kind of cute. It was a pale yellow, with little farm animals decorating the walls. However, as soon as she spotted the diaper changing board and diapers, she was instantly disgusted.

She took off her high heels at the door and looked over at the brats. Becky and Sacha were whispering. Both looked at her. She put on another fake smile, though she could feel it breaking and becoming less convincing as she was feeling pretty strained by this point.

"What are you two whispering about?"

"None of your business," sneered Sacha.

"Yeah. Your shoes are ugly," continued Becky.

Annabella blinked. "Well," he whispered, "aren't you brave now that your brother is being rude to me?"

They both looked at little uncomfortable and shifted slightly. But Sacha was unrepentant."Our mom is way better than you. She was right about you, your nothing but a Barbie doll."

"Maybe, but daddy seems to like this Barbie." She sneered at them. "Besides, you like Barbies too, don't you Becky?"

Becky turned a furious red.

"I've seen them all in your cute, little pink bedroom. You and I will no doubt be best friends!"

"I hate Barbies!" The girl cried. "I grew out of them years ago."

Annabella simply shrugged as if to say 'whatever you say.' Then she grinned nastily as she brushed past them. It was risky openly being cruel to them, they might tell Stephen, but Annabella didn't care, that little defeat of theirs was worth it. Besides, she had tried to be nice. They started it.

Despite all the pizza they had guzzled, the children insisted on eating ice cream before bed. Then they went on and on about watching some dumb film. Stephen indulged them completely. Annabella sighed and looked at the time. It was half ten. Shouldn't they have been in bed already?

"Daddy, daddy, more ice cream please?"

"Sure Becky honey."

Michael went into the kitchen and Annabella leapt off her seat after him.

"Michael, don't you think they should be in bed by now?"

He looked at her with a quizzical expression. "What? No way. Look, it's the holidays, there having fun." He kissed her forehead, "they're meeting you."

"They've met me," she hissed, her frustration getting the better of her, "six hours ago! Michael, please, they need to go to bed. I need to go to bed!"

Stephen, who had been searching the freezer for ice cream, turned back towards her, this time his face was stony. "You know, I never thought you and my ex would actually have something in common."

Annabella bristled; she had only heard awful things about his ex-wife.

"She never let them have any fun either!"

"Well," Annabella felt like a total traitor already, "maybe she had a point. It's late Stephen."

"You don't like them." He declared. "You don't like my kids."

"I do!" she lied. "I do, I just-" Annabella sighed and put her head in her hands. Her eyes itched. She gave up. "I'm sorry baby. I do like them. They're adorable."

"We're out of ice cream," he interrupted her and again she swallowed her growing anger. "I'm gonna go the local shops. Stay here and watch over them."

"But-yes ok..."

Stephen kissed each child before leaving.

They stared at her as she stood in the door way of the kitchen, watching them in turn.

"I think Andy needs to go to bed." She gestured towards the toddler.

"His fine!" Barked Sacha aggressively. "We heard dad, we're allowed to stay up."

"Look at him!" Cried Annabella. Andy, being only three years old, was already half asleep, draped across the settee. "He needs his bed. Would your mom let him stay up this long? I'm not being mean, I'm just being...real."

There was a moment of silence. Annabella had shocked herself. She really wasn't being mean. She was genuinely concerned. She looked at the coffee table laden with sweets and ice cream. Surely they were going to throw up and some point tonight? And she was damned if Stephen expected her to even help cleaning it up. Look at all the junk food they had eaten! It was a wonder they weren't obese.

"Maybe he should go to bed," muttered Becky picking Andy up.

Annabella smiled, feeling a ray of hope. She reached out to take Andy out of her arms but the girl turned away from her. "I'll take him," she insisted, despite being so small, and Andy was clearly too heavy for her. Annabella scowled. _Fine, let her struggle._

She turned back towards the settee to see Sacha glowering at her. "What? What is it?"

"You is what!" Sacha retorted. "My mom and dad will get back together, so you shouldn't bother wasting your time!"

"Oh," she laughed cruelly, making Sacha flush with anger, "I _thought_ this was what today was about." She sat down on the chair opposite him and crossed her legs, grinning the whole time. "Look kid, I wasn't the reason your folks split up. That happened way before I was on the scene. If they were going to get back together, they would have done so by now. Daddy has moved on, you should do the same."

Sacha opened his mouth to argue but a scream erupted from Andy's room. Both of them froze then ran to Andy and Becky at the same time.

In Andy's room, Becky stood facing his cot, screaming and screaming. Andy was crying, his eyes wide, as he slowly sank into his bed sheets. Annabella blinked not understanding what she was witnessing. It was as if his bed had become like quick sand- he was sinking into it. But where was he disappearing to? Underneath the cot was exactly the same, there was no hole, he was not simply falling through his cot.

Snapping out of her thoughts and acting on impulse she ran up to the baby and grabbed his middle desperately pulling him up. The baby screamed and continued to be pulled down.

"I can't- I can't stop it!" Annabella screamed, hysteria colouring her voice. She turned to the others. Becky was still screaming and Sacha seemed frozen. "Call for help!" She screamed at him, "quick Sacha, god, go call for help!"

Andy had sunken down to his chest now, her hands disappearing with the rest of him. She felt her feet rising slowly off the ground as she too began to be sucked in. In a self- survival fear, she took her hands from around him and pulled them out.

"No don't let him go!" wept Becky.

Annabella looked at her and back to Andy.

"I-I'm sorry," she gabbled, "I wasn't thinking."

But it was too late to grab Andy now. All that was left was his head. He was still crying.

"No Andy no!" And after Annabella's redundant words, the child disappeared all together. She hurled herself towards the cot and began to look through the sheets. Whatever hole he was sucked down was now missing.

"Andy? Andy?" she screamed over and over again, pulling up the sheets and mattress. The baby was gone.

Suddenly her entire world went black. Annabella sunk to the floor. She was a selfish and vain woman, but she was not evil. The loss of the baby had, in that moment crushed a little bit of her soul forever changing her. Her whole body began to shake as the guilt welled up. It was all her fault. She let him go. She let him go!

Becky let out a scream again, but Annabella didn't pay attention until the girl called her name. The blonde swung round to see Becky on her belly on the floor. The closet doors behind her were open and black shadow-like tentacles had wrapped themselves around the girl and were dragging her into the closet.

"Annabella!" the girl screamed and cried, "Annabella!"

Annabella ran forward and grabbed the girl, crying, "no, no!" She looked at the girl in her arms and saw her fear. " I won't let you go Becky!" She cried. "We'll go together if we have to!"

Annabella was crying as well. She was frightened, frightened to the point of wanting to vomit, but would not let go! She would not!

As if reading her thoughts, more tentacles shot out of the darkness. They were disgusting to look at. They were a greyish back and felt strange and soft. They repulsed her, making her spin rise up like a cats. She didn't want to be anywhere near them. Becky looked ill having them wrapped around her. Like shadows, they did not look solid, but they could affect them in the same way solid things could. They whipped Annabella around them face and body, causing slashes on her clothes and body and welts on her face and arms. She screamed in agony.

Finally, three large ones tore out of the closet and hit her on her stomach making her let go of becky and go flying back into the cot, tipping it over.

Annabella coughed, winded and sore.

She looked up in time to see Becky, looking betrayed and terrified, get dragged into the closet with a long scream. The doors closed and the scream was cut off.

Annabella scrambled on all fours to the closet, calling Becky's name and pulling out all the shoes and clothes that were in there.

But she already knew the truth. Becky was gone, exactly the same as Andy. Despair began to engulf her, slowing her actions until they stopped all together. She fell back out of the closet and sat on the floor, crying softly, for herself, for the horrors she had seen and for the lost children.

She sat there crying for an unknown amount of time before-

"Annabella?"

She slowly turned her head to the door and saw Stephen. He was standing with a pale faced Sacha by his side. Annabella looked a mess. Her mascara had run down her face along with her torrent of tears. Her skin was pale and her clothes were ripped.

"I don't know what happened," she whispered, her eyes wide and fearful, "Andy just...and then...the closet...Becky...I don't..."

Stephen looked deeply angry, more angry than anyone she had seen in her life. He spoke slowly.

"Annabella, what have you done with my children?"


	3. Missing

"_Little Annie May disappeared three days ago," _the news reporter said as a picture of a small, Hispanic girl appeared on the television screen._ "Her parents are desperate for any information that may..."_

"Jeez, how am I going to tell Lizzy I don't want to be with her anymore?" Mickey pulled anxiously on his tie whilst feeling frustrated and frightened. By dumping Lizzy, was he going to throw away what could be a great relationship? Or was he going to allow a bad relationship to linger on and then in the process hurting himself, his child and Lizzy?

He was in his bedroom getting ready to meet Lizzy in the local park. He would take Natalie with him. It was a Saturday, so he had a day off but Lizzy still had to work at the day care kindergarten as they were open every day but Sunday. She would visit him and Natalie during her lunch break.

He switched off his telly, he hadn't been watching it anyway, and with a defeated sigh he had one last look in the mirror before walking to his daughter's room.

Mickey frowned when he got there. The door was closed which was unusual. He could hear her talking inside. Knocking politely, he announced, "honey, I'm coming in."

Fred and Natalie looked at the door at the same time. Fred dashed under her bed just as the door opened and Mickey came in grinning. "Hey, who were you talking to? Was it Fred?"

She only smiled, still not confirming Fred's existence, just as Fred had asked her.

"Well, we need to go over to meet Lizzy in the park now, ok?" Mickey continued, not worrying over her lack of response. Natalie grinned and jumped once, making her father laugh. "I'm glad you're excited, let's get your jacket and-" Mickey looked over to her closet and gaped; a huge assortment of toys, boxes and books were piled in front of the doors. "Natalie, why did you do that? How can we get your jacket now?"

With his usual long suffering at his daughter's antics, Mickey began to pull down the mountain of junk. Natalie whimpered a little and gave an anxious look at Fred, who simply glowered from under the bed. Honestly, _parents, _theyneverpaid attention!

"There that's better!" Mickey declared as he removed the last bit of debris. On one of the doors was a full length mirror. Mickey could see his daughter in it; she kept glancing between him and under her bed, oddly enough.

He swung them open and grabbed her little green jacket before shutting them again. Something in the mirror caught his eye. Staring into it Mickey saw his daughter still standing next to the bed with a very anxious look on her face and- his heart stopped- a figure _under_ the bed.

Mickey swung his head round, the blood draining from his face. With his own eyes, all he could see was Natalie (who was starting to suck her thumb) no one was under the bed.

But when he looked back into the mirror he could see that the person was now starting to crawl out from under there. The individual had red hair, with a single piece of white at the back and was wearing all green. Even more disturbing was Natalie, who turned to watch the figure. Mickey understood, she could see the person without the aid of a mirror.

Suddenly, the person looked up at Mickey, his eyes a deep blue. Mickey stopped breathing as the person's eyes locked on to his own reflected ones. Then, after a moment's heartbeat, the figure disappeared.

Mickey let out a loud, shaky breath.

xxXXxx

"Mickey!" Lizzy grinned up at her fair haired boyfriend. She loved sandy blonde hair; it was so much like her fathers...ah. She felt the smile slide off her face. Maybe Janey was right about her needing therapy over unresolved daddy issues...

"Hey Lizzy I-" Mickey began before being cut off by his girlfriend.

"Hi there Natalie!"

"Hello Lizzy!" Natalie beamed at her before bounding into the play area where other children ran about screaming and laughing.

"Lizzy listen to me," Mickey urged, sitting next to her on the park bench, "what does Fred look like?"

"Fred? Has Natalie drawn a picture of him? I used to draw loads...though mine tended to be kinda weird and violent..."

"No, but I need to know anyway."

"Why?"

"Lizzy!"

"Ok sorry," she muttered, unused to Mickey being impatient or pushy. "He kind of looked like a living cartoon character. He had red hair that was always really untidy, a stripy green pair of trousers that were pulled up too high and were too short and a matching stripy green jacket. Oh and a yellow t-shirt. Am I allowed to know the big secret now?" Looking at Mickey's frightened face, she felt bad for her sarcasm so she continued more gently, "hey Mickey what's wrong?"

"I saw him."

"Who? _Fred_?"

Mickey nodded and Lizzy threw her arms around his neck. "Wow, that's amazing!" she cried. "So, does he belong to you _and_ Natalie now? When did this happen? Why did it happen? Do you think I could see him?"

"Lizzy it was scary!" He took her arms from around his neck. "I got goose-pimples and the shakes and everything."

She frowned. "Why?" She thought back to her old friend. "Fred isn't scary...at least _I_ never thought he was...weird and crazy perhaps..."She paused and then said something that she had often suspected. "I sometimes think you liked Fred more than me."

Mickey looked at her in bewilderment.

"Fred was the crazy one," she continued in a level voice. "He was the one who did the craziness in the restaurant."

"No that was you," he muttered vaguely, not looking at her.

"It wasn't me Mickey," she pushed. "I'm very quiet normally. I don't naturally throw things around. You've been with me for months now, you must have noticed that." There was a pause. "Anyway, didn't you say you had an imaginary friend when you were a kid? Why would seeing Fred scare you?"

"I didn't have an imaginary friend really," he sighed, "I just wanted to fit in with you. I imagined people and I imagined friends...but it was nothing like that. He was- he was real."

Lizzy observed him quietly. She had always insisted Fred was real. Hadn't he ever believed her before?

xxXXxx

Meanwhile, from the sides of the park, Natalie watched the other children playing. Fred popped up next to her. "Hey there Nit head!" He looked out to the children. "What's wrong? Do you want to play with them?"

She shook her head. Fred observed quietly for a moment before saying in a sober voice, "can I tell you a sad secret?"

She turned to him, her face curious. Natalie did not connect Fred to anything sad.

"I won't always be here Nit Head," he continued. "And I'm sorry about that. But you see, one day, you will join the others." He gestured to the children in the park. "And you will be so happy. Then you won't need me here." In an unusual display of physical affection, he held one of her hands. "I promise, I swear, I'll always love you. I'll always remember and think about you. You'll think of me and smile with happy memories. But I won't be there talking to you like I am now. But it will be ok. Do you understand?"

She nodded. A part of Natalie had always understood what Fred's role was, and that it required him to leave her at some stage. It was unhappy, but it was natural. She was also glad that he had finally admitted that he loved her. Fred wasn't too into being all girly and emotional, so this was pretty nice, even if it was sad at the same time.

"Good!" he smiled. "I should have told others what I told you, but I didn't and that ended up badly for me and the other person," Fred looked momentarily regretful, he reached round and touched the white streak of hair unconsciously, but the expression disappeared with an uncanny and unnatural speed and was replaced with a happy smile. "Forget those losers; let's go play Jungle Warriors together! YAY!"

But Natalie didn't join in with the cheer, instead she pointed to one of the bushes. "Wh-what is that Fred?" she whimpered, unconsciously moving closer to her best friend and protector. Fred looked at the bush that stood a few feet away from them. Underneath it a shadow was roving back and forth unnaturally, pacing like a wild animal locked in a cage.

"Ah," he declared, "hm...ok, let's go far away from the bush first of all."

"It's creepy!" She wailed as he began to pull her away.

"Yeah I know," Fred began to close his eyes and glow a little.

Natalie gaped. "Fred you're all shiny!" He opened his eyes and smiled at her. Around the park, all the adults stayed as they were, but the children all began to turn in Fred's direction. One by one they abandoned their games and whatever they were playing with and ran towards him, out of sight of all the adults. Most of the adults didn't immediately notice, though a few followed the children slowly.

Too slowly.

After a few minutes a child's name was screamed out by a female voice. Soon another name was, then another ,then another. Slowly but surely panic spread around the park as adults realised that their children were suddenly not there anymore. The screamed names of various youngsters were cried into the air. But not one name was responded to.

One young woman looked into the pushchair next to her only to discover the occupant was now gone.

A father desperately looked for his son, "I threw a ball for him to catch, he went to find it and he hasn't come back!" he told everyone he could grab a hold of desperately, "have you seen him? He only went behind a bush, how could he just vanish?"

The panic reached Lizzy and Mickey. They watched curiously at first as they saw adults beginning to run about shouting. Then they began to hear why they were panicking, cries of 'have you seen my little sister?' 'have you seen my son?' and so on reached their ears. The sudden lack of children was evident.

They both stood. "Natalie!" They called simultaneously, "Natalie?"

"I'm here."

They both turned to see the little girl standing alone in an opening. They ran towards her and Mickey scooped her up into a hug. Many of the other adults saw them together.

"Ask her where the other children are!" A few of them demanded. But when Mickey asked her, she only shook her head in confusion.

Tears began to be shed and people became angry as it turned out that every child and baby in the park, except Natalie, had disappeared.

"She must know!" A mother screamed, terrifying Mickey and Lizzy as much as Natalie. "She must know what has happened or where they all are! Why is just your child ok?"

Quickly, the young couple ran out of the park, Mickey holding Natalie tightly, in order to escape the frantic parents and guardians.

Unbeknown to Lizzy or Mickey, Natalie pulled out the necklace Fred had given her a few days before and stared at it. The emerald colour had darkened. It was almost black. Carefully she placed it back in its hiding place under her sweater.


	4. Samhain

A.N.- This is also an origins story. So here is Fred's. It will be inter-twined with the 'present' plot and eventually the two will come together.

Samhain

Once upon a time,

On the grubby shores of what is now called Calais there lived tough, sea-savvy tribesmen known as the Ingaevones. These tribes tended to fight amongst one another. Life was short and hard. People prayed and put all their hopes into the Afterlife.

One small tribe, further inland kept itself quiet. It was small and weak.

And in this tribe lived a little boy who would go on to have an amazing destiny. Unlike his counterparts, young Fridurick would live a long, long time- too long in fact. But he would not live out his long years as a human.

At this time he was nine years old, bright eyed and mischievous.

It was autumn, the most difficult time of year would soon be upon them. Winter. It chilled Fridurick just thinking about it. Months and months of hunger and bitter cold. Half the babies would die. He would probably lose a friend or two, assuming he survived himself. This was because while the beautiful goddess looked after them during the summer, winter was the time of the god Samhain. On the first day of winter, the first of November, Samhain would burst out of the underworld in a fit of ice and snow, and with his cronies, would march through the known world, causing darkness and disease and death.

So to try and prepare for this dreadful time the people stocked up on fish and birds and any fruits and herbs that could be dried and saved. Then all they could do was pray, which was what they were doing at that specific time.

Everyone was naked save for a throne of flowers around their heads and had rubbed sweet peas and primroses on to their skin. For good measure his mother had given him a bunch of wild flowers to hold also. Fridurick was naughty and easily distracted so mother always had to make sure he had something to occupy himself with and that he had more to offer the goddess.

The entire village were standing in their sacred grove. The trees stretched over them forming an arch. In the future, cathedrals would mimic what the land was doing naturally. In the middle of the grove stood a wooden figure of a buxom naked woman and it was this that people stood around. This woman was the goddess Nerthus.

Fridurick thought she was a bit of a mean old bitch making them suffer such long winters with her psycho relative Samhain, yet making them have to be so grateful for the few short summer and spring months which they had to work through anyway. However, he would not dare say so. He had once complained of Nerthus to his mother. She had beat him soundly, sent him to bed with no food, then sobbed half the night terrified that Nerthus would come after her or her son, or her other child in angry vengeance for his ingratitude.

It had been her tears and fears for his sister that convinced him to never again be rude about the goddess (not out loud anyway.) Fridurick was a naughty little boy, but he was also kind and caring. He was good about the things that mattered.

Fridurick yawned widely, his mother nudging him a little roughly in response. He grinned down at his little sister, a raven haired beauty even at only five years old. She smiled back at him but turned away at their mother's glare. His sister, Aenor, was the most important thing to him in all the world. He sometimes thought he possibly loved her more than his mother, which would make him feel a little guilty. But it couldn't be helped, Aenor was a lot nicer to be around than their stressed out mother. In fact, he preferred his sister, and the village children in general better than any of the adults. Being nine years old meant that he was coming out of the childhood stage fast. As soon as he turned around eleven or twelve he would have to begin working to get food for his family and learning how to fight. His father was dead, killed in a battle the village were always doomed to lose (being as small as they were) and being the oldest boy he would have to be the head of the family. It was also little things, like how his sister would smile at him when he stepped into a room, where his mother would sigh wearily and tell him off for something he had done wrong that day (seemed to him like he was always doing things wrong); that his sister would occasionally give him a bit of her dinner when they were all starving, he would never accept it, but it was nice to get the offer.

The people began to chant as, out of the small lake situated just outside the grove, the Priestesses began to climb out of the waters. Like the people who worshipped them the women were all naked. Their hair was long and unkempt. All the women were very thin.

As they entered the sacred grove, all the people fell to their knees. Fridurick fell later than what he meant to as he was too hypnotised by the beautiful Priestesses. Luckily, no one seemed to have noticed.

The main priestess held in her hand a white pigeon. She slit its throat very quickly and poured the blood into a golden goblet, the most expensive thing the village owned. She dabbed the heads of each of the Priestesses before going over to a rock on which a picture of a wagon was crudely cut into it. She poured the blood onto the rock and the people began to pray:

"_All-giving Nerthus, as you share your crops,__  
__Seeds sown full blown to__ grain, to fruit, to honey,  
So we honor thee in fulfilling thy holy work,  
Through this gathering of feast and frith,  
__Hail thee Nerthus."_

As they chanted the priestess put the rock with the carving of the chariot on it in front of the wooden statue of Nerthus. Then the women, eight in all, stood in fours either side of the goddess watching carefully as members of the village walked to the altar and gave a gift. The village was small and weak and so what they gave was a reflection of that. The people had worried but the priestesses had sworn that once they put away all iron (which offended the goddess) and gave with full hearts, she would accept their offering. People gave from their precious food stores mostly; herbs, jams, pieces of salted meat, late fruit and so on.

As darkness began to fall, the priestesses lit two torches and held them so everyone could still see. Fridurick yawned again, rocking on his feet. It was cold and they were still standing there, naked, waiting to give Nerthus a gift (which he swore the Priestesses took for themselves anyway) and to give her a stupid prayer of thanks. Goddess he was so bored!

He looked across and saw another little boy, Rue. They grinned at one another, Rue carefully sliding over to Fridurick so that they were standing together. Rue leaned over and whispered, "Hey...our goddess is all naked." Then the two giggled like idiots though it made no sense to, it wasn't as if their gods or goddesses being portrayed as naked was anything rare, especially as the village focused on the fertility gods as opposed to the more northern war gods (their village was one that needed to grow food and they needed more children, so the war gods were useless for them.)

Then the boys began to nudge one another, elbowing each other in ribs, stepping on each other's feet and so on all whilst trying to stifle giggles.

Fridurick's mother knelt before the goddess and offered up her gift; a dried lavender and fresh Amaryllis along with a blackberry jam.

"Oh great Nerthus," She whispered, "please forgive my wild son and protect my gentle girl. I pray for their protection, please, mother of the earth, you understand me best, please look out for them. I love you, great goddesses!" She kissed the ground in front of the statue and laid her gist.

Her daughter came second. For Aenor this was the first time she gave a gift on her own. The Priestesses had decreed that the moment a child could walk was the sign from the goddess that they had to give alone.

She ambled up to the statue and with great care kneeled down and placed some wild sprigs she had collected herself as an offering. She looked up at the Priestesses, a little afraid. One of them smiled softly at her, giving the girl hope. She grinned back toothily and said her own prayer:

"Dear goddess, thank you for the sun and moon and thank you for making the flowers grow because they are pretty."

She tapped the ground happily, as she would tap a baby's head in fondness and went to her proud mother. But just then the happy moment was shattered.

Fridurick and Rue had now started pushing each other and at that moment Fridurick was pushed and stumbled into the Priestesses. The all toppled over, which was completely hilarious to see; only the one holding the torch fell onto the statue of the goddess. It being made of dry wood meant it went up in flames before they could save it.

His mother screamed and most of the villagers cried out in horror; Fridurick had just burned the effigy of their goddess, surely they were all doomed.

xxXXxx

Later that evening, nine year old Fridurick sat shivering in the family hut. The land was already becoming very cold as the last remnants of autumn fell away from the branches of sleeping trees and moulded on the muddy ground. The village was poor, and his family were poorer still, having no father figure, so the hut was flimsy and weak against the winter; it was a wonder that he and his sister had survived every winter so far.

Fridurick's mother was distraught weeping profusely and praying into the hearth, begging Nerthus for forgiveness. He watched her, rocking backwards and forwards, groaning and beating her fist against her chest.

He sighed and looked away.

Without meaning to his always managed to hurt people. He wasn't sure how he did it. This time he'd managed to injure every one of their sacred priestesses, anger and frighten his entire village and, by the looks of things, send his mother completely insane; all of this because he and Rue were mucking around a bit.

"It's not fair," he muttered more to himself than his young sister, who was sitting quietly beside him, "I was only _playing_. How can I hurt so many people when all I was doing was having a bit of fun with a mate?"

"What are you whispering over there?" called out his mother, and not for the first time he damned her excellent hearing. "Were you talking to the wicked spirits? the things that must control you?"

"No wicked spirit controls me," he bit back miserably. "I was only playing! How was I supposed to know that accident would happen?"

"The village is doomed," she cried terror snapping her sanity and causing her voice to rise so much her children squirmed with anxiety, "the village is doomed because of you! She will curse our crops and her kin, the terrible Samhain will surely kill us all this winter!" She shrieked the last part hysterically, frightening her son and daughter terribly, before running up and grabbing Fridurick, "you have to repent," she continued, "you have to pray, come, come with me to the hearth."

She and Fridurick knelt down, Fridurick looking anxiously at his wide-eyed sister, and began to pray with his mother.

"Please goddess, please forgive me for our crimes, please bless the village, please do not curse my mother," he stammered as his mother wept loudly beside him, her own prayer lost in wails and hysteria.

As he prayed, he heard the sound of many people gathering outside. He tore his eyes away from Aenor and looked to the door, just as heavy banging was put upon it.

"Open up!" roared a male voice outside. Fridurick recognised it; it was the leader of their tribe, Heardred. Heardred was a frightening man, he was tall and touch and every one of his bulging muscles was covered in scars. He had fought alongside Fridurick's father in the battle that killed him. Heardred had often made it clear that he did not like Fridurick and considered him a failure to his father.

Hearing Heardred's bellowing and banging, Fridurick's mother suddenly scooped up her son and ran to her daughter before slumping down on the floor her back pressed against the wall. In her arms, crushed between his mother's chest and his frightened sister, he could feel their twin hearts beating rapidly.

The flimsy door was smashed open with hardly any effort, and Heardred strode in, his face blank, his eyes burning fear and anger, his lips in a straight line and pressed together so hard they were a pale white.

"No, please," begged mother, "not my babies, please, please!"

Fridurick felt Aenor being pulled away from him, and immediately panicking leapt out of his mother's arms and into Heardred, biting him on the arm.

"Vicious little brat," ground out Heardred before securing Fridurick neatly in one buff arm. It was all too late that the young lad realised that the village leader had never been after his sister at all, but he himself.

He watched his mother gripping her daughter tightly, as Aenor held out her hand as if reaching out to her big brother and screamed like an injured animal whilst he was taken away. His mother looked blank and defeated. Little did Fridurick know, but seeing his mother cradling Aenor whilst bunched up on the ground, would be the last time he ever saw of her.

Outside, the entire village stood waiting. They separated as Heardred walked past, revealing a small cart with a young Ox tied to the front of it. Fridurick was piled into the cart before various villagers tied up his hands and feet so that he couldn't move. He looked around the crowd and saw several children, his lifelong friends, staring at him. The saw Rue amongst them and felt some relief that whatever terrible punishment was to be met out on him, at least Rue was going to be safe, at least for now.

"Mama!" he called from the cart, feeling frightened as it began to pull away, the ox being led out of the village, "mama!" But he did not hear her reply, and did not see her amongst the crowd.

The cart continued slowly for some time, and Fridurick began to shake from the cold, and he could see his own breath rising from his mouth. They were outside of the village now. It was very dark, they only had a few torches and the heavenly bodies for light. By what he could see, only the men of the village, and a few dozen women, were trailing the cart now.

Soon the travelling slowed and he could hear the people's laboured breath. They were out in the marshes, were the terrain was so wet and inhospitable, no one could live there or grow crops, and they seldom ventured through it unless...

'_Unless they have to make a blood sacrifice,'_ realised Fridurick, feeling cold sinking through his bones and his heart stilling from shock, before beginning to beat so powerfully and rapidly it hurt his chest.

The cart stopped completely, and Heardred came round and pulled Fridurick out, setting him down onto the ground gently. The mud was wet and sucking and he was afraid to be on it. As if sensing his fear, Heardred lifted Fridurick back up and ruffled his head slightly.

Fridurick began to cry softly, '_why is he being so nice to me? He's never been nice to me! I cause too much trouble and I annoy him. Besides, this is supposed to be my punishment, so why is he being nice?'_ Fridurick didn't want to try and answer his own question.

Heardred was walking, and Fridurick turned his head to see where they were going. Up ahead, he saw all the Priestesses. They were all wearing white linen togas, with black masks that looked vaguely liked black birds, and rave feathers tied into their hair. Raven's represented death in their culture, Fridurick began to hiccup between quiet sobs. The High Priestess held in her hand a long rope while the Priestesses around her all held two sticks each.

Fridurick glanced at the Ox that had pulled the cart.

'_Blood sacrifices have always been animals, maybe they will execute the Ox,' _he felt bad for the Ox, but fervently hoped this was the case. But though only animals had been killed on rare occasions for their goddess, he knew that every now and then, if the village was in dire straits, humans had been killed in the past.

Heardred's hand was still on Fridurick's head, and now he pushed Fridurick closer against his chest and landed a rough kiss on the boy's wild, red hair. He went to pass Fridurick over to the Priestess but as if the boy was suddenly possessed he screamed and kicked against her, pushing himself further into the village chieftain.

"I'll be good," the boy cried, "I swear, I swear I'll be good from now on! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do it, it was an accident! Please, please!"

Fridurick continued to cry and beg as Heardred held him down at the feet of the chief priestess. Fridurick found, to his horror, that floor he was being pushed on was a lethal mixture of water and mud; it would suck him down.

The surrounding Priestesses all around their leader began to clap the sticks together, making a horrible loud sound that frightened the boy even more.

_Clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack!_

"Great Goddess!" cried the high Priestess, ignoring the screaming child, "in supplication we present to you our blood sacrifice. Please forgive the error which was made against you this afternoon! Please continue to bless our village and keep Samhain from destroying us out of vengeance!"

_Clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack!_

Fridurick had given up fighting, the bog had already dragged down his legs and he could the rest of him being slowly drawn inside. The High Priestess knelt down beside him and tied the rope tightly around his neck and placed a triangular cap on his head.

_Clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack!_

Chocking on his sobs, he glanced back up at the crowds, desperately hoping to find his mother or Aenor. Even though he knew they would be traumatised to see him murdered, he still wanted them there.

_Clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack!_

'_I didn't even get to say goodbye,'_ he realised, '_I didn't get to tell them that I did love them.'_

He wanted to call out to the villagers, all of whom looked pale and frightened, even Heardred, but he felt as if his mouth was full of wool. He was simply too scared.

_Clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack!_

His air supply was suddenly cut off as the rope tightened around his neck. He wanted to reach up and grasp the rope from his neck, to pull it away from himself, but his own hands were tied.

_Clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack!_

He began to dry wretch, and a few of the crowd looked away. His vision watered and blurred, he could feel his own eyes swelling up, and even sound became strained until all he could really hear was the blood in his ears.

_Clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack!_

He almost didn't notice the feeling of something slimy and long like an eel, wrapping itself around his ankle, until it began to pull hard, dragging down further into the mud.

_Clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack!_

He tried to scream, but couldn't, so inside his mouth opened and closed like a dying fish. He lifted his head up, facing the stars, screaming silently for help, for the goddess to suddenly appear and say that all was well and that she forgave him, and that they really didn't have to strangle him to death.

_Clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack!_

The last thing he ever saw alive were the twinkling stars, before his sight shut down. Just as he was about to die, just _before_ his heart stopped, the thing around his ankle was joined by another and another, wrapping around his waist (which was now almost completely covered in the mud) and his legs, and together they all gave on mighty tug, dragging hi, half-dead, half-alive, under and into the bog, never to be seen by the villagers again.

**A.N- I've been given some advice from a reviewer that it'd be a good idea to offer some explanation behind my choices in this chapter.**

**Nerthus: Nerthus was a goddess mentioned only by one person, a Roman called Tacitus. In AD 98, Tacitus, who had travelled into western Europe and wrote about the tribes he met there, wrote a book about his discoveries called **_**Germania: On the history and Geography of Germany. **_**He talks about the tribal traditions and religions. Now everything Tacitus says we have to take with a pinch of salt, after all the Romans had a low view of the Germanic nations (seeing them as inferior, unsophisticated and violent vagabonds) which may have affected the way Tacitus wrote about them. However, he seemed generally pleasant about the people, praising them sometimes and suggesting that in some ways they were better than the spoilt Romans. Anyway, my point is that though we can't take him as gospel (especially the things he says that have no physical or archaeological evidence) we can take him seriously enough.**

**One of the things he spoke about was a religion the tribes had. Now, all the tribes had slightly different versions of the same religion (sort of like the many different types of churches that exist nowadays, but they all come from the same source and come under the blanket of Christianity.) The people of Iron Age Germany (Germany including France and some of Northern Europe, Germany being a bit of a blanket term in those times) were at that time very agricultural, they were focused on having fertile lands and fertile women. Gods such as Thor and Odin, who were warlike, came later when the tribes became fighters (i.e. the emergence of warrior people such as the Vikings) before then, the gods were all fertility gods (known as the Aesir- which roughly translates nowadays to 'elf.')**

**According to Tacitus, the tribes worshipped a goddess called Nerthus who demanded yearly sacrifice; her priestesses would take rope and drown willing Germans in lakes. There is not much evidence of this. By what archaeologists have fond, human sacrifice was pretty rare (but this may also be due to the fact that we're talking about the Iron Age, so much evidence will have wasted away by now).**

**However there are human remains often found in peat and bog pits around northern Europe (most famously is one called 'The Tullond Man'). In the bogs the humans have been naked short of a pointed cap (very similar to the caps elves wear in childrens books) and something around their waists. The bodies almost always have rope wrapped around their necks. We aren't sure exactly what happened to these people, and the nature of their deaths varies slightly from one place to the other, but we are certain, by the way the people are drowned into the pits and the ceremony of their deaths, that they were human sacrifice.**

**Ingaevones: I say that Fridurick's family are Ingaevones. This is a term Tacitus uses to describe the various tribes that live near the sea.**

**For more information, there is a book called **_**Beowulf and Grendel: The truth behind England's oldest legend **_**by John Girgsby which goes deep into the sacrifice idea and is pretty interesting. Also, if anyone has any queries or complaints, please email me and I will answer you **


	5. Magic

"Aaaand take in a deep breath of air..."

Janey took in a deep breath. She held it.

"Aaand, release."

Janey breathed out through her mouth. She opened her eyes and grinned.

"That was awesome folks," said a long haired, blonde woman to the circle of people of which Janey was a member. "I feel we are really getting in touch with the Earth Goddess, do you?"

Everyone smiled and nodded at one another. Janey beamed. This was awesome.

After the relaxing séance everyone milled about, drinking herbal tea or pure water and eating wafer biscuits and oat cakes. Janey made her way to their blonde haired leader Marianne.

"Marianne I just wanted to say how happy I am to be here today," she gushed while Marianne beamed.

"You've been coming along really well," the blonde replied. "I am impressed, you're a natural wild spirit Janey."

Janey smiled but then looked worried. Marianne asked her what was wrong. "It's my friends," she answered finally, "I am worried. They have a little girl and with all the disappearances...I just can't help but worry. Is there anything you can do? Why are children vanishing?"

Marianne paused, deep in thought. "I don't like to discuss the spirit world too much," she began, "especially the Dark Side. The spirits like to keep themselves a secret. And it does not bode well to catch their attention. But... but things have been strange recently."

"Is the spirit world partly to do with the disappearances?"

"Yes. There are many different planes and universes next to our own. We are but one layer in a multi-verse of mystery. On the whole we all keep ourselves separate but recently I feel the one of the Other-worlds is intruding on our own." During her speech, Marianne had closed her eyes and bought shaking hands to her temples. But then she calmed and looked at Janey. "You are precious to me Janey. I can try to help the little girl as much as possible. I can put a spell on the child to keep her protected, a charm if you will."

"Yes, please, that would be great."

"Bring the child to me and I will do my best for the child." She smiled warmly. "You have a soft and kind spirit Janey. In fact there is something I wanted you to do for me, in payment for protecting the child."

"What?"

"I have a young woman staying with me at my apartment. She's very terrified. She was there when two children were kidnapped. She was right there when the Other-world and our world interacted. She isn't like us," Marianne sighed, "she isn't magical and she has no understanding of a higher consciousness. She is very broken and very upset and need recovery time. Janey, I was wondering if you could allow her to stay with you for a few days, until she regains confidence. I know you have a loving spirit that can help nurture her to health."

"Sure, I'll do it, but why won't you do it yourself if she's already staying with you?"

Marianne grinned a little ruefully, "I love this woman very much but she drives me insane. Such is often the way between sisters."

DDF

"Mickey, Janey is coming over for lunch. You did remember to buy food didn't you?"

Mickey put down his work bag and sighed dramatically, putting his hand to his head, "oh, no I forgot, sorry Betsy."

Lizzy swallowed her anger and smiled, "that's ok. I'll go shopping now," she checked her watch, "I may just have time."

"But I'm back from work," he whined, "just stay with me for a while. They won't mind. We can order pout or something."

"We don't have the money for that Mickey."

"We'll be fine," Mickey shrugged.

Ever since the scare with Natalie in the park, Lizzy had been living with the child and her father. It had pained her to say goodbye to her little apartment (which she had been so proud of) but both she and Mickey had been frightened for Natalie and it had readdressed what their values were. Silently, both had put their niggling doubts over their relationship to one side and decided to go for it. So far, Lizzy was ashamed to admit she was slightly regretting her decision.

Janey arrived half an hour late and very excitable.

Lizzy answered the door and the old friends hugged, "Lizzy you will be so stunned to hear what I have to say to you! Hi Natalie!"

Natalie grinned before hiding back behind Lizzy.

"Come into the back kitchen and meet Mickey," Lizzy smiled. Mickey had never met Janey before, and Lizzy was keen for them to get along. If Janey liked Mickey maybe it would help Lizzy wise-up and appreciate what she had with him.

"Hi," she shook Mickey's hand, "it's great to finally meet you!"

Mickey stared in amazement, he had known that Janey was a little crazy and fun by what Lizzy had told him, but after hearing that she tended to sleep with horny married men once a month because she could never 'get' any, he had never guessed she was so attractive.

"Um, hi," he grinned back, wincing from her tight grip.

They scrambled over to the set table, Janey immediately piling food on her plate talking all the while. Mickey was stunned, this lady was...so cool...

"So anyway this could be a way of keeping Natalie safe from all the weird disappearances." Janey said to Lizzy, shovelling food into her mouth. She smiled in bliss, "I'm so glad I'm off that Atkins diet!" she gushed.

Lizzy carefully chopped her salad into tiny squares, "I dunno," she began slowly, "it seems a little weird having some random stranger come live with you."

"That's why I want you to come help me move her into my apartment, you can help me judge whether she's a psycho or not."

"I'm not a good judge of character."

"Sure you are Betsy," Mickey leaned over and kissed her head. Janey was surprised to see Lizzy grimace and move away from his embrace.

"But I'm not," she argued.

"I'm just trying to be nice," he sat back into his own seat and smiled softly at his daughter.

"There's no point saying nice things if they're not true," Lizzy insisted.

"You're just saying that because you're used to people being horrible to you."

"It's not that at all! I just prefer honesty," she suddenly stopped realising Janey, and more importantly Natalie, were still there. "I'm sorry," she sighed, "you're right. Thank you."

She gave him a stiff kiss on the cheek and smiled.

"Well I think what Janey is doing is great," Mickey continued, "I'd love to just take someone in and take care of them, if I could. Besides, this is all really exciting, all this magic and other-worlds. I wish I knew more about this stuff!"

Janey grinned, "well this is your opportunity. We take Natalie here down to Marianne to be blessed and to get a protection spell, then we take her sister down to my apartment, once we're all agreed she isn't crazy. Agreed?"

Natalie and Mickey roared their approval before all three looked at Lizzy mischievously.

She smiled and rolled her eyes at their antics. "Fine, I agree as well."

"_After what happened with Fred," _she thought, _"this couldn't be any weirder or stranger, just some new age nonsense and we're done."_

DDF

That very afternoon after lunch they all piled into Mickey's car and drove down to Marianne's shop.

The blonde lady greeted them warmly. "My sister is coming here later," she explained leading them into the back was Janey and the others would meditate and practice their yoga. "She wasn't too pleased that I wanted her to live with another person, but she is keen to get away from me," she let out a tinkling laugh that, to Lizzy, almost seemed sinister due to its forced innocence.

"So what are you a pagan?" She asked cautiously, looking around the shop and all the strange jars and crystals and old tattered books. She wasn't sure if she wanted Natalie exposed to anything too strange, though Mickey seemed pretty happy, he hadn't stopped grinning since lunch.

"I'm a type of wiccan," replied Marianne. "It's not the same as being a witch, and it is a legitimate religion."

Lizzy nodded and closed her mouth, feeling chastised.

Marianne reached out for Natalie, who responded by holding Marianne's hands. "Such a beautiful child," the Wiccan gushed, "you must be very proud," Mickey turned and nodded, his eyes warm with love for his daughter. Lizzy melted a little. She loved how much he cared for Natalie.

"We need to stand in a circle and hold hands, Natalie, you need to sit in the middle of the circle," Marianne ordered. When they had all done so she began to chant in a tongue none of them understood.

A soft breeze began to whip around the circle. Lizzy suddenly began to feel light headed. She did not like how she was feeling and she did not like not understanding what was going on. Marianne's head began to loll, her eyes were closed tight and she continued chanting as if in a trance.

Lizzy looked to the other adults, but they simply seemed amazed and entranced. The only other person who seemed somewhat concerned was Natalie herself, who was looking up at Lizzy with wide brown eyes.

"It's ok Natalie!" Lizzy called, uncertain of whether she was ruining the spell but not caring as long as Natalie wasn't feeling afraid, "I won't let anything bad happen! Neither will Fred!"

Natalie nodded, looking somewhat calmer before suddenly flying up into the air with a yelp. Everyone gasped and Marianne opened her eyes. The breeze became a rough wind.

"Is this meant to happen?" Janey yelled over the roar of wind.

"N-no!" Marianne yelled back, "this is too much power! I don't understand what's happened!"

Up in the air Natalie's necklace fell out of her shirt and began to glow, the bright green slowly engulfing the entire shop. It was so strong they all had to close their eyes.

"Natalie!" Lizzy could hear Mickey screaming.

"Don't let go of hands!" Marianne cried a second later.

The wind was so rough and strong Lizzy was gripping their hands tightly and they were doing the same. It was painful. The wind was cold and spiteful, tearing at their clothes and skin. Lizzy could feel her eyes getting warm with tears. Natalie was up into the air; surely she would be feeling the worst of it? She knew this was a bad idea from the start! Why did she let people talk her into doing stupid things? And now Natalie might be hurt!

Suddenly she thrown from herself deprecating thoughts as she and the others were dashed backwards. The circle was broken and the green light burst from the shop and vanished.

They got shakily to their feet and ran to where they had stood into the circle. Slowly, an unconscious Natalie drifted down from the ceiling; landing safely in Mickey's outstretched arms.

"What was that?" He breathed, checking his daughter for any sign of injury. She seemed fine, other than being asleep.

"I thought you knew what you were doing!" cried Janey to Marianne.

"I do," the Wiccan responded calmly, brushing her long windswept hair with her fingers. "Usually the spell is very simple and not at all dramatic." She walked over to Natalie and looked at her necklace, "it was this that messed things up," she answered. "Where did she get it from?"

"I have no idea," Mickey looked over to Lizzy but she shook her head. She hadn't given Natalie anything like that.

The little girl herself opened her eyes. They breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you ok?" Began Mickey, "you sure? Sweetie where did you get that necklace?"

Quickly, Natalie hid it under her top. "You weren't supposed to know," she said a little petulantly. "I had to hide it. But your spell made it show itself and now I think something has been called."

"What do you mean honey?"

But Natalie could not explain herself.

xxXXxx

"What was that all about?" Lizzy exclaimed to Mickey, who still had a sulking Natalie in his arms. "We shouldn't have gone there Mickey!"

Mickey let out a frustrated sigh, "well I'm sorry Lizzy, how was all supposed to know something like that would happen?"

"Because it's magic, Mickey, and that stuff is always wild and dangerous, remember all the stuff Fred gets up to, even now with Natalie?" as soon as Lizzy said those words, she thought to herself how it seemed that Mickey hadn't really ever believed her about Fred.

She was about to accuse him of such, but instead lowered her eyes to the ground and swallowed how annoyed she was. Lizzy was no good with arguments and he would just be right anyway. Her anger was quickly followed by a strong wave of guilt.

"I'm sorry Mickey," she said quietly, "I was just scared, that's all. Stuff like this frightens me."

Mickey put his arm around her shoulders, hoping that she wasn't about to cry.

"That stuff is just child's play," Mickey sighed again, "I mean, Fred antics involves shaving a cat or throwing mud at our neighbours windows. Nothing like this...though..." suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks.

Lizzy looked back at him, "what, what is it? Mickey?"

He shook his head, snapping out of the trance, "oh nothing just that I...I remembered when I saw Fred."

"You thought it was your mind playing tricks on you."

"Yeah but you were convinced I'd seen him, Lizzy," he walked up to her, "what if something _is_ happening? I mean me seeing Freed, kids magically vanishing into thin air, Natalie floating and her having this necklace, it can't be coincidence. I can't believe we haven't put it all together before now."

"But why would all this stuff be connected, sure it's strange but..." she turned to Natalie who had been quietly watching the distance, apparently ignoring their discussion, "sweetie, it was Fred who gave you the necklace wasn't it?" The little blonde huffed and ignored her.

"Did he say why he gave it to you?" Lizzy pushed, feeling her old anger towards Fred grow, "is this dangerous? You must tell us, it isn't funny if it is dangerous."

Hearing Lizzy pleading, Natalie turned to her and finally answered, "it isn't dangerous. Please don't take it away!"

Lizzy blinked, remembering how her mother had locked away Fred in the Jack-in-the-box. She looked at Natalie's large, frightened blue eyes, and at her chubby fingers gripping the necklace.

"Ok Natalie, I won't take it." She looked at Mickey, "but we have to start being a lot more careful. Keep an eye out for Fred, because we need to talk to him."

"Oh my God it's you!"

Mickey, Natalie and Lizzy looked up to see a dishevelled, but still pretty, blonde lady staring at Lizzy with wide eyes.

"A-Annabella?"

"I heard what you were saying just now," Annabella responded, before pointing at Lizzy dramatically, "I remember you. One of the guys I used to date, he was always going on about how crazy you were, how you could see things that weren't really there."

Annabella began to stumble up to them, whilst Mickey gripped his daughter more tightly and Lizzy frowned.

"I wasn't crazy. I don't appreciate the fact that Charles and you discussed me."

"No you weren't crazy," cried Annabella, grabbing Lizzy's shoulders.

"Ow! Stop that hurts-"

"You weren't crazy and I'm not crazy! There are things out there! Things that kids talk about but we never used to see but now some of us do," she began to shake Lizzy until Janey and Marianne ran out of the shop and dragged Annabella away. Janey gave Lizzy a comforting hug whilst Marianne calmed Annabella down.

"Stop Anna" she was saying, whilst rubbing Annabella's forearms, "it's ok, you need to stop freaking out."

Annabella nodded, but tears began to stream from her eyes, "but...but they think I did something." She choked through her tears, "they think I hurt the children."

"What's all this about?" asked Mickey slowly, pulling Natalie closer to himself and keeping a wary eye on Annabella.

"I used to know her," began Lizzy, also watching in shock, "well sort of. She was the one Charles was having an affair with."

"Janey," called Marianne, "this is my little sister, Annabella. She's had a rough time and she was the one I was hoping you could let her stay with you for a few days."

"I dunno," answered Janey, still standing close to her best friend, "you never said she was dangerous, just that she needed recovery time."

"She isn't dangerous..."

"Please don't talk like I'm not here," Annabella stood straight and brushed some of her wild, blonde her from her face and quietly dabbed her tears. Lizzy noticed how she was only wearing a baggy t-shirt and jeans, and had no cosmetics on. It was strange, as Annabella had always struck her as a woman who always dressed up and who wouldn't be seen dead without a face full of make-up.

"I saw something," Annabella pushed on, mainly settling her gaze on Lizzy, "something magical and evil. It came out of the closet and the children of my then boyfriend. It took them away. I saw it and they could see it, but no one believes me. I swear I'm not crazy and I would have not done anything to those kids. You gotta believe me. You do, don't you? It's Lizzy right? You guys were just saying how kids are vanishing all over the place and that you've seen some weird stuff."

Janey leaned over to Lizzy and whispered, "what do you think?"

Lizzy gulped, looking at Annabella and recognising herself in that desperate face and those wide eyes. "I think she's telling the truth," she responded, before looking straight at Janey, "do you think you could take her in? If something is happening, then maybe she can help us, especially if she's seen something. I don't want Natalie to be in any danger, and if she is, and I think she is, then this may save her. We need information. I'll try and call for Fred tonight, and maybe you could ask her what she saw exactly."

"Ok, I'm not sure how wise this is, but ok, never say I don't do anything for you Lizzy."

"I appreciate everything you do for me," said Lizzy with feeling, giving her friend one last hug before Janey went over to the fair-haired sisters, accepting their proposition.

"Come on," said Mickey, "let's get home pronto."

xxXXxx

Lizzy stared out of her window, watching the darkness take over the city as the deep red sun settled down behind the city skyline. She had spent most of her evening in her room, feigning tiredness. In truth she didn't want to talk to anyone. In particular she didn't want to see Mickey.

She bit her lip, not understanding her own feelings.

What was wrong with her? Did she just like men like Charles, nasty, narcissistic bullies who treated her badly? For years she fought to stay with Charles even though she knew, she knew that it was a bad idea and that he was not a good man. She knew that the relationship was abusive, even though she hated admitting it to herself. Here was Mickey, good kind and gentle, yet she found him increasingly irritating. There was always something superficial between them, she kept expecting to wake up and realise that it wasn't real. He didn't seem to be in love with her, despite how often he said he was, and she knew she didn't love him.

'_Maybe I'm so damaged by Charles and my parents that now I can't fathom the idea that I am loved, maybe that's why I feel this relationship is false...yet...yet...when exactly did Mickey fall in love with me?'_ She thought of the past year they had spent together. He had always loved her, it seems, even back on that fateful day and he had accidentally bumped into her, he had always given her that doe-eyed look and spoke of love and affection.

'I believe you can never really fall out of love', isn't that what he had said on their first date? But they had only just reconnected then. So had he loved her as a five year old? And even then, he loved her for the wacky shenanigans Fred cooked up, but that was never really her. So...all this time, had Mickey been in love with a false version of her? Was that why she felt like he wasn't as interested now, but going through the motions? Had he realised she wasn't really the person he thought she was?

'_Or am I just being paranoid? Am I trying to somehow shift the blame on to Mickey, so that when this relationship falls apart from my lack of interest, and I end up being all alone for the first time in years, then I can try and blame him instead of myself?'_ She sighed deeply and buried her head in her hands_, 'I can't deal with this, it's too much. I wish I could understand myself. I wish I knew what was going on. Why can't I just be normal? Is there something wrong with me, is that why I keep making myself miserable? Maybe I need Fred again, to teach me how to stop being a ninny and to get on with it. Though Fred never liked Mickey too much... I wonder why, he was always ok with Janey?'_

"What are you doing," asked Mickey suddenly entering the room and letting in a shaft of light from the hallway that hurt her eyes, "sitting in the dark like this?"

"Just, trying to get my thought's together," she answered, putting up her hand to cover her eyes, "where is Natalie? Is she ok? today was frightening..."

"She's fine," Mickey switched on the light and sat on the edge of the bed, "she's piled up loads of stuff in front of her closet, I just spent ages putting it all back in the right place."

Lizzy felt a pang of guilt shoot through her chest like lightening, "Oh...sorry, I should have been there to help. Why did she do it?"

"Something to do with Fred, same old, same old." Mickey pulled off some of his clothes, "I'm going to take a shower."

Lizzy nodded absentmindedly. She needed to talk to Fred, could she do it through Natalie?

xxXXxx

In her dark bedroom, tucked up in bed, Natalie stared at her closet. The light was on in the hallway, casting hundreds of shadows that stretched across her room and distorted everything. She could feel her heart beating and her breath was barely controlled. She stared at the closet, she knew it was stupid to do so, whatever was in there could hurt her within seconds, so staring wouldn't help anything, but she couldn't help it, she just couldn't tear her eyes away from it.

'_Please Fred,_' she prayed in her mind, _'please come back to me. Please. I'm frightened!'_

She let out a small gasp as the door on the closet began to turn very slowly.

'_I should scream,' _she suddenly thought, her whole body tense under the blanket, which now felt ridiculously heavy and very hot, _'I should scream really loudly or run out of the room. The light is on outside, it's ok I-' _As if hearing her thoughts, the light outside switched off and her bedroom door suddenly slammed shut, entombing her in her bedroom. She flinched as it closed but still could not move; it was as if some invisible thing was holding her down and putting a lot of pressure on her chest so she couldn't breathe.

The catch on the closet door clicked, and slowly it began to open. Natalie's eyes were so open and strained she felt as if they could fall out at any moment.

A strange smell she couldn't identify hit her nose and the sound of whispering floated up into the air. In the darkness of the closet she could make out something writhing about in there, like many oily black tentacles sprawling amongst one another desperately seeking space.

Shuffle

Shuffle

Her toes curled as she felt something shuffling about under her bed. Her breathing stopped as she saw each of her pictures being ripped off the walls, but what was ripping them off she couldn't tell.

Then the whispering changed, it was more like a soft sniggering. Her eyes welled with tears, but still she couldn't scream. It was strange, she was terrified, but she was also embarrassed, embarrassed of her own fears, that she was so unable to control herself.

It was then that whatever was crawling on her floor began to climb up onto the end of her bed, she knew this because she could feel the bed lower from its added pressure.

Natalie gulped and held her breath, too terrified to make any noise now. Whatever was making its way up her bed was now pressing on her feet. Her whole body went cold and stiff, as though her blood had frozen in her veins. She could even feel all the blood draining from her face.

The pressure travelled higher, it was by her knees now. It was travelling so slowly as if to prolong her agonising fear. She could hear it breathing, rasping and wheezing ever so slightly.

Adrenaline suddenly plunged through her small body, and Natalie tried to sit up, to look at her fear in its face so that the whole ordeal would be done with. Unfortunately she couldn't move her body. Her necked and shoulders strained as she tried to sit up, but some sort of weight was holding her down.

The quiet sniggering started up again and the smell was now intolerably strong. Natalie let out a long whine, similar to one an injured animal would make, and she felt the thing (which was at the bottom of her belly) freeze, as if it had suddenly realised she was there.

She gasped and began to cry very quietly.

Suddenly the thing moved quickly up to her face, scrambling as if eager to see its victim. Natalie was able to move now, feeling the crushing pressure gone, but the thing scrambled up too quickly.

As it shoved its face right into her, Natalie let out an almighty scream.


	6. The Closet

**Last time: **

**Something evil crawled out of Natalie's closet and began to creep up her bed while she lay in it, frozen with fear.**

**Annabella was dating a man called Stephen and was not getting along well with his three children, Sacha, Becky and baby Andy. During an argument, Stephen stormed out of his apartment leaving Annabella alone with his kids. In that time something stole away baby Andy. Annabella screamed at Sacha to get help. After he ran away, something else grabbed Becky and while Annabella genuinely tried to save the girl, Becky was stolen by some black, shadowy tentacles and dragged into the closet, never to be seen again.**

**And now...**

**xxXXxx**

Natalie's terror-stricken scream ran through the apartment, dragging Lizzy out of her self-pitying stupor. She ran to the child's bedroom, just as Mickey scrambled naked out of the shower, grabbing a towel and covering himself quickly as he ran.

'It's just a nightmare,' he thought, his heart hammering hard in his chest, 'my little girl has had a nightmare that's all!'

His heart temporarily stopped as he saw Lizzy outside of Natalie's room, desperately trying to push it open. She had her entire left side pushing into it. The door was opened, but just a crack, and was shuddering as if something almost as strong as Lizzy was keeping it shut. Lizzy looked up at him, her face red with exertion and her eyes wild. 'Help me!' she seemed to scream silently, waking Mickey out of his shock and bringing him to her side and them both pushing at the door.

Whatever was on the other side began to double its efforts in response.

"God damn it!" Mickey ground out between clenched teeth.

Lizzy was completely silent. Through the door he could hear Natalie whimpering

"Natalie!" he screamed redundantly, "Natalie!"

Lizzy, however, closed her eyes and fell further into the dark recesses of her mind.

'_Fred_,' she whispered mentally into the darkness, _'Fred, Fred, please, Natalie needs you, she needs you!'_

xxXXxx

In her bedroom, it was still pitch black and all Natalie could make out where odd shapes and the stark white faces of her tormenters.

She was now sitting with her knees up in the corner of her bed, her hands curled up like claws and gripping her face. She was breathing heavily through her mouth like someone on the verge of having a panic attack. At the side of the bed, just opposite her was another little girl, only she had short black hair that hung like rat tails around her face, red eyes with yellow irises and skin that was white and mottled.

The girl opened her mouth to speak, but black slime and spiders scuttled out, preventing her from making any words. Natalie shuffled father away, her back pressed against the cool wall. The fact that she could feel so much is what let her know that she wasn't merely dreaming that this was horribly real.

The bedroom door was banging and shaking, making her more afraid, but she couldn't hear her father's desperate pleads.

After a moment of silent contemplation the girl at the end of the bed sat up on all fours. Her head and one of her arms were twisted in the wrong way, as if she were an animated corpse of a horrific car accident. The girl grinned, her teeth black and grey with slime flowing through them.

Natalie nearly threw up as the thing came close to her, and stretching out its hand went for her green necklace. As it did the necklace suddenly lit up, making the thing fall back with a loud shriek which sounded like it would belong to a bird more than a broken little girl. Green light lit up the room, chasing away all the shadows. Black tentacles shot out of the darkness, ripping into the destroyed body of the girl and ruining it even more before dragging it back in to the closet.

Natalie, the adrenaline rushing once more, leapt to her feet and stared into the closet. The girl was still shrieking in a bird like manner and shaking her head violently, inexplicably making black feathers fall out of what should have been hair.

Natalie sucked in a sharp breath when she looked into the closet and saw that, in between the swirling mass of black, oily tentacles, stood an unnaturally tall and slim woman. The woman looked down at Natalie, with such a ferocious glare tat, to Natalie's shame afterwards, she wet herself.

Just as the closet doors slammed shut, her bedroom door opened, making Lizzy and Mickey fall in, temporarily gaping at thermo before scooping up Natalie and pouring kisses all over her. But she couldn't stop staring at the closet. How would she ever explain this to them? How could she, a small girl with limited words, ever explain the insanity that had just been inflicted upon her?

She looked over at Lizzy. Natalie had always liked Lizzy. Lizzy was a nice lady. She was quiet and fun and kind, all the things her mother wasn't. Mother would be angry about messes or about her asking too many questions, or for not talking enough. Whereas Lizzy didn't mind mess, she would just ask Natalie to help her tidy it up and they would d it together. It was fun. Lizzy didn't mind answering questions, and would admit it when she didn't know the answer. In fact, Lizzy had been the one who taught her that adults didn't know everything and weren't always right. Lizzy also didn't mind if Natalie wanted to be quiet, if she didn't want to talk, especially if strangers were around.

But now, she looked at Lizzy's dark black, short hair and all she could think of was the monster in her room. She whimpered and closed her eyes, flinching when she felt Lizzy's arms around her. Natalie felt mean and ungrateful but she couldn't help it. Lizzy was scary to look at now.

Hadn't her mother told her a story about how there was a witch that looked like Lizzy, and that the witch had stolen away her daddy?

Natalie hadn't paid too much attention at the time. Lizzy had always seemed nice, and her daddy was still around. Plus, Fred had told her that mother had just said that to frighten her because she wanted to live with them again. Truth was, Natalie hadn't wanted her mother to live with her and daddy again. Mother wasn't nice and often made daddy sad. Things were better with just her and daddy.

But now, in her father's arms and with a wet bottom, she realised that maybe her mom had been right. That monster had looked like Lizzy, only scarier. And though daddy was still around, he now spent a lot of time talking to Lizzy and spending time with her. Even worse, Fred had been appearing less and less since her arrival. Maybe Lizzy was a witch. A lot of scary stuff had happened recently, was it all Lizzy's doing?

Natalie sighed, her father carrying her out of her room and Lizzy running her a bath.

'_I need Fred,'_ she thought, sniffling to herself, _'why didn't he come?'_

xxXXxx

Janey stirred the sugar into their coffees, before carrying the two mugs out of her kitchen and to her living room, where Annabella sat, her feet curled up onto the settee.

"Thanks," the blonde muttered, taking her coffee and sipping it.

"So," prompted Janey, "you were saying that after their disappearances you were arrested."

"Yeah, Stephen was convinced I had done something awful," Annabella wiped a shaking hand over her face, "but how could I spirit away to children in less than five minutes?"

"Did Sacha say anything?"

"No, he just stood there as his father screamed and me and dragged me out of the apartment. I was a mess, crying and screaming, but not because of him, I was just frightened, I kept telling him that we needed to find them that," she gulped, "that the tentacle monster had gotten them. I was thrown out onto the street. I wondered around for a few hours, asking strangers for help, that monsters had taken two children, but I just looked crazy." She glanced at Janey, her expression one of shame, "I saw myself in the mirror later. I was covered in bruises, my hair was a mess, and my make up was smudged. My feet were bleeding from trailing around in those heels half the night. I kicked them off and walked barefoot. Later, after the police transferred me to hospital, they had to clean and bandage them and give me pills to prevent any infection."

"They also gave you pills for delusions, I'm guessing?"

"Yeah," Annabella closed her eyes and bowed her head, "Yes, for eight days, I was in an emergency psychiatric unit. In the end I just played along, saying that I had imagined the whole thing because I was having a mental break down. The police couldn't find any evidence that I had done anything to the children, and apparently Sacha had simply stopped talking all together. They wouldn't let me see him," she opened her eyes and looked in to the distance, "I wanted to make him tell the truth, and for a while I was very angry at Sacha. But then with the help of my doctor, I realised that it was pointless being so mad about it. Sacha is going to be even more of a mess than I am. It was his brother and sister who were stolen. I can't imagine how he must be feeling.

"When I saw the police last, they seemed to be hinting on the idea that Stephen had done something terrible to the children, mentally damaging me and Sacha in the process. Plus, my psychiatrist decided that I was no immediate threat to anyone, apart from possibly myself. In the psychiatric ward they put me on suicide watch for two nights. They must have told the police, which would have added weight to the fact that I was innocent and hadn't hurt anyone but rather was a victim of some terrible crime." She shrugged as if she herself didn't feel that she agreed with their decision, "I'm still under investigation, and I'm still a main suspect, which is why I can't leave the city even though I'm frightened of this place now."

"Is there anywhere you would be able to go to feel safe?" asked Janey.

"I doubt it," Annabella grimaced, "I'll forever have this mark of someone being mentally unstable as well. I have to keep going to visit the psychiatrist, twice a week, because if I refuse they'll just section me again. The only reason they released me at all was because I phoned Marianne and begged her to let me stay with her or to help me find someplace in the city to live."

She looked briefly at Janey again, "I don't have a job, I don't have any money left. All I really had was Stephen but...well, that's all over now...or at least the relationship is. Even if I am proven innocent, we could never get back together.

"I went to Marianne for help because she's the only relative who still speaks to me but we're...strained," she looked at Janey and smirked in a self deprecating manner, "three years ago, before I met Charles, I stole my sister's fiancée. When it comes to men, I'm can be pretty despicable sometimes." She took in a deep breath, "anyway, it's why I am here. Marianne doesn't like me enough to keep me around too long, mental breakdown or not."

There was some silence for a while then. It was raining hard outside, and then women, sitting side by side, listened to it beating against the window for some time, before Janey came to a conclusion.

"Anna," she began, turning to the blonde, "I'm not going to judge you, I've had an affair before as well. I was having sex with one of my bosses at work, he was a married man, and I was doing it while Lizzy had been cheated on by Charles. I wasn't very...tactful myself, and I often make bad decisions, also usually about men." She smiled at Annabella's hopeful face, and inched closer to her and threw an arm around the woman's slight shoulders, "we all make mistakes," she continued, "but that's no reason to keep beating ourselves up. We just have to learn from them.

"This thing about the children, I believe. I've seen plenty of weird things in my life, floating children and imaginary friends, and I know better than to immediately disbelieve someone. I'm fine with you staying here, but you will need to keep on going to that psychiatrist, ok?"

Anna sniffed and nodded, leaning her head down onto Janey. "Thanks," she said, "I think I kind of needed that."

**A.N- I thought we'd finish this chapter on a wind-down. I also wanted to give Annabella some humanity. I want her to come across as pretty self centred here, but also I wanted her to be someone you could still feel bad for, despite her bitchy side. I also thought it was important to note that Janey was also a 'mistress' but us fans aren't as hard on her because we like her. As Anna is going to be in this story, I thought it only fair to give her a chance.**


	7. Falling apart

As Mickey washed an almost catatonic Natalie in the bath, Lizzy left them in peace (she had noticed Natalie flinching away from her when she had reached out and touched her arm) and instead went back into Natalie's room.

The destruction was significant. The bed had been shook into the middle of the room. Black footsteps made by small feet were on the floor, leading from the closet and onto Natalie's bad.

'_They weren't made by Natalie, her feet weren't that dirty. Whatever came in,'_ she thought_, 'it came from the closet and climbed on top of her,'_ she shuddered, not being able to imagine the terror Natalie must have felt. The wallpaper had been ripped off the walls as well as all of Natalie's pictures and paintings, and the doors of the closet had been ripped off by their hinges, almost as if something large and wild had broken out of the closet and torn up the room haphazardly.

Going to the closet she searched through the clothes. Some of them were burned and there was a sharp smell of acrid sulphur. Lizzy wrinkled her nose in disgust and came out of the closet, unable to see or smell anything else that was unusual.

On her knees in front of the closet she closed her eyes and once more called for Fred to please hurry up and to go to Natalie, who needed him desperately. She opened her eyes and sighed, running her hand through short hair.

"We'll have to call Joanne," Mickey heard Lizzy speak behind him. He was kneeling against the bath, pouring water on his poor, frightened child's back. He noticed the girl freeze as Lizzy entered the room. He looked at Lizzy and saw her looking sadly at Natalie; she must have seen the girl flinch as well. For some inexplicable reason, he felt slightly angry at Lizzy.

He stood up, "why should we call Joanne?" he challenged, "Natalie needs love and comfort. God knows Joanne won't offer that." He frowned in frustration as Lizzy, instead of standing up to him, seemed to shrink in the doorway and bowed her head.

"But Joanne's her mother," she answered lowly, "I-I just think it'd be a good idea, y'know, because if we say nothing and she finds out, things will be worse for us."

"You call her if you want," he bit out, feeling angry and bitter and upset for his daughter, "I won't do anything else to traumatise my little girl." He knelt back down at the bath and continued bathing Natalie, both the little girl and he having their backs on Lizzy.

Quietly, she slipped away and went downstairs. Sitting on the settee she looked at the phone before quietly beginning to sob.

'_It's my fault,'_ she thought, _'I was unhappy in this relationship and I was sulking and he knows. I was being unreasonable and now it is all my fault.'_

xxXXxx

Joanne was at her cold and clinical apartment; the walls were a pale shade of grey, the floors were laid with polished wooden planks, a large flat screen was the only extravagant appliance left out in the open, everything else was neatly packed away. Joanne sat at her desk, looking over her the minute notes taken from her various meetings that day. She would need to read through them all, configure them into number data and use that data to improve services t her workplace. It was long and tedious work, but she enjoyed it.

A photo sat on the desk, one of a gap toothed smiling girl. It was a picture of Natalie, though now the picture was obscured by the many papers and files and a half drunk coffee cup.

The telephone suddenly rang. Joanne stared at it for a while. It was late, and so it was unlikely to be anyone from the office and more likely to be a family member. She didn't have any friends. Joanne finally took a deep, steadying breath and picked up the phone.

"Hello."

"Ah, um, hello, Joanne it's Lizzy."

Joanne closed her eyes dejectedly. 'damn,' she thought, 'not this bumbling stuttering idiot, now I'll have to a conversation! I should have never picked up the phone! Never mind, I'll just make her too anxious to want to stay on for too long.'

"What is it?" she demanded.

"I-it's Natalie. She's really frightened...something happened to her."

"What? What have you done to her?"

"Nothing! But I think she was perhaps attacked tonight. There was screaming in her bedroom, so Mickey and I ran to her room. Inside, there's nothing there, but the room was a mess and she was scared, we think someone broke in."

"Definitely not a nightmare or her sleepwalking and causing the mess?"

"Natalie doesn't sleepwalk, and she isn't strong enough to cause some of the damage made in the room. I just wanted to let you know."  
Joanne pursed her lips, "why didn't Mickey call me?"

"He's with Natalie, we thought it best that he not leave her."

Joanne clucked her tongue and sat silently for a moment, the phone still pressed against her ear. She could hear Lizzy breathing quietly on the other side, waiting to hear her response._ 'Maybe this will be a good opportunity to get back with Mickey,_' she thought_, 'I can show off my loving motherly side, so that he no longer thinks I'm some sort of ice queen. Maybe I can get my daughter to like me more than Lizzy, get her to realise that she should love me more than her stupid step mommy. If Natalie loves me more, it will be much easier to get Mickey back on side. It was more so mine and Natalie's bad relationship that put Mickey out of sorts, (even though that was ridiculous, Natalie's only a child, we don't need to have a relationship, not like a friendship or anything like that. Natalie just needs to do as she's told and go off and play while I get on with important things, like paperwork. But Mickey will come to understand that, if I can get back with him.) And it's not even like Lizzy and Mickey are married, so it'll be easy to get back in there. Plus, if I'm being called (even if it is by Lizzy) that must mean I'm still considered necessary to Mickey and Natalie._

"I have an important appointment tomorrow," she said at last, "but as Natalie is important I shall come visit her tonight. I want everything ready for when I come, a room for me to sleep in, and no canoodling with Mickey while I'm there, this is about my family, and whether you like it or not Lizzy, we're still a family."

"That's fine," replied Lizzy quietly, thinking that Mickey probably didn't want to 'canoodle' with her anyway.

Joanne allowed herself a small, sharp smile to briefly alight her face. She liked it when people obeyed her. It was really quite disgusted how Mickey went for such a demure, spineless woman. She never thought that had been his type, he had always preferred fierce women, like herself.

"Good. I'm glad we agree. I shall arrive in about an hour."

"See you then," Lizzy said, only to find that Joanne had already hung up.

Slowly she stood up and wandered over to the window, glancing to the outside. The dark was impenetrable, and she couldn't make anything out. She wondered if she had done the wrong thing, if bringing Joanne was simply going to make a bad situation worse.

'But I can't deny Natalie her real mother,' she thought, 'especially as she seemed afraid of me just now. Plus, if things get too bad, I'll move out for a while, maybe with Janey.'

Feeling somewhat better, realising that at least she had options now, (options that were preferable to staying in a bad relationship) she instead turned her thoughts to Fred and why he didn't go to Natalie when she needed him.

xxXXxx

Fred was in Otherworld, shivering under a tree. The whole world was dark, the grass was starting to die, the atmosphere cold and desolate, heavy black clouds blocked out the sun and it was raining heavily, causing Fred and his companions to seek shelter under the last remaining tree.

"Nerthus is really angry," whimpered one of the beings standing next to Fred, he was a small man wearing an all-green suit.

There were, in fact, eight people under the tree. They all looked reasonably human and they all wore green outfits, but that was where the similarity ended. The small group were a mix of male and female, and some were significantly older than others.

"One of us should go to her," said a female with big green eyes and long blonde hair, "maybe get her to calm down. We've always been good at cheering her up!"

"Not anymore," said a man who looked like he was in his late thirties, "she likes us as children, not as adults. We just annoy her as adults. Plus, she'll kill some of us for the things we've been up to in her absence."

He glanced at Fred, who looked like he was trying to make himself smaller.

"Then," said the girl awkwardly, "then...then maybe we should get her offspring down here?"

"Oh yeah," sneered Fred sullenly, "great idea. Let's go visit the Terrible Twins. They'll probably eat us on sight. I hate this. Why is she back _now _and where is the seer? My girl is scared, I need to go to her..."

"You'll only make things worse for all of us you twit!" barked a brunet male. "Just stay still and wait. If you run she might send her birds again."

"We have to do something!" the blonde girl nearly shrieked, "I can't stand this! Can't anyone think of something?"

"No one can stand it," the brunet bit back, "but _of course_ none of us can think of anything. How can we _think_? We never _think_ about anything, it's why most of us are dead. We're just elves, we sit around and go to Nerthus when she calls us and that is that. Our whole existence is to just keep her happy. And we all failed and she got locked up so now that's she's free we're _all_ in deep trouble."

A shard of lightening flew across the sky, temporarily bathing the land in light, before it was gone again, and in its place there was a deep, rumbling growl of thunder shook them all.

They all whimpered and cowered together.

Then Fred grabbed the blonde girls arm. She gave him a frightened look.

"Come on," he said, "we have to do something, like you said. Let's go talk to someone." He glanced at a tall series of towers in the distance that made up Nerthus's home, "her birds might not notice us gone because it's so dark and the weather is so wild. We can even run, come on!"

She nodded, deciding that doing something was better than waiting around terrified. Elves were much better at action than they ever were with stoic bravery. It's just the way they were.

The other green-clad creatures watched fearfully as the two ran away over the hill, far away from Nerthus, her tall tower and terrifying anger.

**What do you all think of Joanne?**

**Anyone get any clues as to what is happening? ;)**

**I've been asking people to beta, but they're all ignoring me. So if you want to beta this (no need to help me with plot, just grammar and spelling) please PM me or mention so in a review.**

**Finally, if you are reading, please review. I know its plot heavy and that might be annoying people who just want to read some LizzyxFred, but just let me know. It's depressing never getting any feedback.**


	8. Dokkalfar

**Last time**- In the distant past, a young boy Fridurick was sacrificed by his village for a misdemeanour, but before he could drown, he was dragged deep under the marsh.

In present time, Mickey and Lizzy come to a disagreement, depressing Lizzy even more about their relationship. She calls Natalie's mother because something has attacked Natalie.

In Otherworld, Fred and a few others, afraid of a mysterious presence called Nerthus that has taken over their land, runaway to get help.

**The Dökkálfar**

Fred and the blonde elf-girl ran to the literal edge of their world. They skidded to a halt, looking out into the great vastness of stars and blackness. After a moment of rare quiet contemplation they got onto their hands and knees and crawled over the edge underneath the plate of their earth. Once on the other side, it seemed like everything was the right way up again, and the two stood. The place they were in now was very white and covered in mist. There was no light, no sky and no colour other than the blank whiteness.

Occasionally, electric blue lights shot across the landscape. The elves froze and shrank back whenever they saw these. The blues lights were tiny pixies, and pixies were not nice creatures.

"So we are going to see the twins then?" the blonde asked.

"Yeah," muttered Fred, "I don't see who else we can go to. 'sides, they might know where the seer is."

They walked carefully in the whiteness, often getting stuck in gloopy white mud, or suddenly falling into small pools of freezing water. "Ugh," the girl complained, "I hate this place!"

Fred didn't say anything.

Eventually they came to an edge of a vast cave. There was some warmth emanating from inside it, and soft music could be heard. The pair walked in cautiously, looking around and anxiously noting the hundreds of glowing pale blue eyes watching them from the cavern's rafters.

She whimpered and gripped his arm, though he looked terrified himself. Goblins were not pleasant creatures, and even beings as naturally wild and aggressive as elves knew to walk carefully if they didn't want to get attacked.

As they left the shadowy part of the cave, it opened up to a large bright hall. Candles were held up on the walls, each burning furious white flames. The floor was of the same white rock as the rest of the cave, but it had clearly been sanded down and polished so that one could walk upon it with bare feet without causing themselves injury.

In the middle of this hall was a large four poster bed, complete with black sheets and a thick red quilt that Lizzy's mom would have thought looked tacky and cheap, but what Isabella would have loved. On the bed cavorting and giggling, were two blondes, a male and a female.

Fred gaped for a while at their friskiness and his blonde companion laughed loudly, (both resisted the strong urge to jump into the fray and join in.) On her loud laughter, the two blonde lovers looked up and grinned at their guests.

"Fred and Mina," cooed the male, "what brings you back to these parts? And together no less, you creatures tend to be fairly independent of one another."

"Do you want to join our bed," smirked the woman, "we're getting ready to bring in spring for the northern European countries, we could use all the help we could get." She grinned at her male counterpart, "We'll give the farmers a good season this year!"

Fred wrinkled his nose, not knowing how much he liked the idea, when Mina cried out, "we can't join in Lady Freya and Mister Freyr, we're so sorry."

Freya's and Freyr's eyes suddenly darkened dangerously, and all signs of their good humour swept away. Even the hall seemed to darken. Fred inched closer to Mina.

"Then what do you want, elves?"

"Nerthus your mother has come back," hissed Fred, when it was clear that mina was too afraid to speak and a minute away from running away in fear.

"What?" Freya leapt up and stood on her bed, wild blonde locks suddenly standing on end, making her look like Medusa. Her brother sunk further into his bed with wide eyes.

"How can mummy be back?" She cried, "she was locked up for her gregarious want of power hundreds of years ago! Was it you stupid creatures? I bet you did something didn't you?" Her face began to darken as her hair also began to turn to a coal black. Sharp fangs began to replace what were pearly white human teeth.

"We didn't do anything we swear!" argued Mina.

"She's making trouble in the Middle Realm," continued Fred, hoping to sidetrack the monstrous goddess, "she's frightening our charges."

"Worried about your human brats as usual _Fridurick_," hissed Freya, though her anger was abating a little, "in that case, I think you ought to go to her."

As soon as the words left her mouth, the whole underside of Otherworld began to tip to the side and became covered in black as a huge gaping hole ripped through the icy landscape. There were shrieks of animalistic joy as every evil being from the land began to run and leap through the void.

"Sister," cried Freyr moving up to Freya with unnatural speed, "what is the point in this?"

"We need to play mummy by her own game," replied a newly blonde Freya who was now grinning wickedly, "she's too greedy for her own good, and won't have changed after all her years in captivity. In fact she'll be furious, and I'll be damned if she ruins the earth and our fun."

She kissed her brother passionately before declaring to her elves, "go into the world and do what comes naturally to you," Fred and Mina felt their blood pumping and excitement flushing though their veins, "bring down unholy chaos upon Nerthus and her plans. Find the seer and destroy everything."

Mina and Fred, along with so many other creatures, leapt into the void as the world behind them began to be eaten up by the darkness.

"You fool!" Freyr screamed at his sister, "They're idiots! they won't remember anything you've told them!"

"I've already thought it through," answered Freya calmly, "Fridurick will remember, because he has humans who love him down there."

xxXXxx

Joanne was almost at Mickey's house (it used to be _their's_) but as usual the traffic was reasonably heavy despite the late hour. At that moment in time she was on a bridge overlooking a vast river. It wasn't as impressive as the Manhattan Bridge, but it was obvious that this small town had stolen the design and had re-done it on a much smaller scale.

Stuck in traffic for a moment, she grabbed her coffee and gulped it down, relishing its scorching heat. She ignored the idiots either side of her, on one side was a disgusting lurid pink limo with girls inexplicably wearing sunglasses and screaming out of its sun roof.

'_This isn't fucking Hollywood,' _she thought bitterly.

On the other side were a bunch of home-grown jocks, all chanting and jeering over some game they had one. She squinted her eyes and tried to ignore the fact that they were now mooning her.

Suddenly, she dropped her coffee. It split all over the floor and even splashed a little onto her feet and legs, but she never felt it.

To the side, the limo girls began to scream in fear and the jocks all stopped mooning and instead stared gaping at the massive, grey and red tentacle that had just appeared out of the river.

Never taking her eyes off the waving appendage, Joanne fumbled for the door handle and stood outside her car. People all around her were doing the same until slowly the tentacle fell down onto the bridge. There was a mass scream as cars and people were suddenly crushed.

Everyone began to run, including Joanne. The tentacle raised itself up again ready beat down even harder this time...

Joanne joined in with the united scream of those around her as, with a huge shriek of broken metal and then the thunderous crashing sound of mortar, metal and bricks being torn down and falling into the fast-running wide river below, the ground suddenly lurched so that they were running upwards and instead of straight. The tentacle had beaten down the middle of the bridge, breaking it in half and tipping the sides.

'_No, no, no, no, no!'_ Joanne's mind began to panic, '_please God whatever I did wrong, please, please!_'

Around her people began to lose their footing and rolled down the length of road to their deaths. Joanne had kicked off her heels and was using her hands as well as her feet to scramble upwards. Her manicured nails were smashed against the unforgiving tarmac, but she didn't care. She just needed to escape alive!

It was then that the cars began to roll backwards. Joanne let out one final terrible scream as a black ford focus fell onto her.

"Janey! JANEY!"

Janey woke up unattractively with a snort and some drool hanging off the side of her mouth. She was in bedroom on top of her bed and her head was throbbing. Ah that's right, wine, too much wine, with Annabella, who was now calling for her.

"Janey hurry! Look at this!"

Janey sauntered into the living room yawning, "this better be good Anna."

Annabella was wearing Janey's nightclothes (a vest top and shorts that looked way sexier on Annabella that what was right and fair) and standing in front of the television. Janey watched as a bridge was ripped down by several strange, gigantic tentacles poking out of the river.

"What is this some horror flick?" she muttered wondering why Annabella would wake her up just for this.

"Wait, no, isn't that our bridge?" then she noticed the logo at the bottom left of the screen, it was their local news station logo.

"Oh my god," Janey sank down and the couch and Annabella with her.

"That's what attacked the children, only it was much, much smaller before!"

"Attacks like this have been happening all over town!" cried a news anchor, "people are being told to stay indoors. We will get footage as soon as possible but several of our people on foot have been attacked and some are missing. Please stay indoors!"

They had more helicopter shots of shadowy beings running through the city, smashing and breaking everything in sight.

"They seem to be heading further out to the suburbs!" the anchor continued, "we aren't sure what these things are, some seem human but others less so. Please stay indoors! We will get more information as soon as possible!"

Janey began to breath very fast as her mind went into overdrive. Unlike Annabella who, when panicked, stopped thinking, Janey thoughts became inhumanely fast and focused.

"Right, Anna you need to find my tools, they're under my kitchen sink, and I need you to start hammering the windows shut. I need to call Lizzy and then I'll join you. We need to make this place secure, go!"

Annabella nodded anxiously and went off to do Janey's bidding, forgetting the fact that she had never held a hammer in her life, never mind nailed a window shut.

xxXXxx

"I'm sorry Lizzy."

Lizzy turned around to see Mickey standing in the hallway, the light shining on his back and dousing him in shadow. She had been sitting in the dark, crying over her situation. Desperately she rubbed her eyes, knowing that Fred would have mocked her for such weakness.

"It's ok," she responded thickly, "it's my fault Mickey."

He still had Natalie in his arms, but she was asleep now, premature lines of worry and stress on her face. He placed her down on the settee and held out his arms for Lizzy. As they hugged him, she felt that it was all her fault; it was her duty to be more loving, to obey him, to do as he wanted...

The phone rang out rudely interrupting their moment of calm.

Mickey let go of Lizzy and picked it up, "hello? Oh hey Janey!" Mickey found himself suddenly feeling a whole lot better hearing the cheerful woman's voice, but it didn't last long.

Lizzy watched with interest as Mickey's face went from benevolent, to confused, to frightened. "Lizzy turn on the TV!"

She did as he asked and immediately the news was on instead of the usual programming. A female news anchor was in the middle of the city on the streets. Her hair was blowing about wildly in t harsh winds that hadn't affected the area where they were living.

"As you can see," she was shouting over the wind, "the weather has become increasingly bizarre, it's raining four blocks to the left and snowing five blocks to the right. No one can understand what's going on other than we are all in danger. The weather is going up to storm like conditions wherever we are downtown!"

They cut to a computer generated weather map of the town, showing a strange navy blue cloud spreading over the town and out to the suburbs.

They returned to the windswept reporter. "The phenomenon seems to have started in the centre of our city and is rapidly spreading outwards. Everyone is advised to stay indoors." Suddenly something abnormally fast grabbed the reporter dragging her away whilst she screamed. The camera whirled in the shock before the cameraman, still recording, began to chase after the reporter. The cameraman said nothing but they could hear his breathing as he ran towards the distant screams of the woman.

"Uh, uh, we're not sure what happened there," the screen split in two, one half still showing the cameraman running, and the other showing the anchor back at the station, "which cameraman is that?" he asked someone off screen whilst pushing down on his ear piece. There was a murmur off screen in response. "Oh, ok, viewers, the cameraman is Joe. Joe, Joe, please answer us, do you know what is happening?" But the cameraman didn't answer; instead he and his lighting and sound team ran into a small alleyway.

A large shadowy creature was holding up the female reporter, who was now covered in blood and screaming.

"Viewers we understand that this is extremely distressing and we may stop all transmissions in a moment to spare you." The anchor babbled as the media team cautiously drew closer to the creature and the reporter. "We also want all our viewers to know that we care a lot about our team here and e have called the authorities, OH SWEET JESUS!"

The lighting guy and cameraman man had both shone their lights at the creature, revealing it to be a hideous monstrous being. It wasn't clear if it was male or female, but it had scales instead of skin, like a snake, and it's eyes glowed a deep red. It had long white hair that was flowing out in all directions, and sharp claws instead of finger nails. It looked at the crew and let out a terrible, ear splitting scream that woke Natalie and made Mickey and Lizzy fall to the floor in agony and shock. The television scream temporarily turned to static cutting off the terrible wail.

The three individuals stood up shakily in the living room, Natalie more shocked than anyone else as she had been so rudely awakened.

The screen came back on just in time to show the cameraman Joe screaming in terror at the camera as the creature tore him apart. Natalie screamed in perfect horror, making Lizzy and Mickey run to her and hold her tightly. The news team quickly stopped the transmission and went back to the pale-faced news anchor in the studio. He was breathing hard.

"We-we...oh god...ladies and gentleman, we do not know what has attacked our city or how these beings arrived, but we need you to stay indoors. We are getting reports," he looked down at his messy papers on the desk, "of people being killed and...and eaten. Please, stay indoors and make your homes as safe as possible."

As he spoke Lizzy lay Natalie back down and began to sooth the exhausted girl back to sleep_. 'She'll think this was just a nightmare tomorrow,'_ Lizzy hoped fervently.

Mickey put the phone back to his ear, "Janey, how long ago did this all start?"

"I don't know," she answered, "but you need to lock up your house already! Those things come after children, and I don't want to risk anything after what happened in the shop this afternoon."

"Ok, thanks and Janey?"

"Yeah?"

"Take care of yourself."

Janey smiled at the receiver before putting it down.

"Lizzy we need to lock up the house before those things come back. Lizzy?"

Lizzy was staring at the television screen. She pointed with a shaking hand to the demolished bridge, "I-I called Joanne," she stammered, her eyes wide with horror and a crushing guilt, "I called her. She would've been on that bridge Mickey."

Mickey looked at the sight on the television and felt his knees weaken and the blood drain from his face. He and Joanne had been out of love for a long time, but he still cared deeply about her. She had been the mother of his most blessed possession in the entire world; of the person he loved the most and for only the person who's his love of was completely unwavering. He still had spent years with Joanne, trying to rekindle their first passion. Now watching the last bits of the bridge tumbling into the deep, fast river, he suddenly could only remember the good time, the first time he had seen her in college, her red hair shining in the sun while she curled up under a tree reading a textbook, looking like something out of a fairytale.

He couldn't believe she was gone. Even as Lizzy began to cry piteously, slumped next to an unconscious Natalie, all he could do was stand there in shock.


	9. Sanhain pt 2

**Last Time**: A young boy named Fridurick who lived in Neolithic Germania was drowned in a bog because of a misdemeanour against their goddess Nerthus.

And now...

Samhain II- Welcome to Alfheimer

'_That which is called Álfheim is one, where dwell the peoples called __Ljósálfar (Light-Elves)__; but the __dökkálfar (Dark-Elves)__ dwell down in the earth, and they are unlike in appearance, but by far more unlike in nature. The Light-elves are fairer to look upon than the sun, but the Dark-elves are blacker than pitch.'_

_Gylfaginning_ Snorri Sturluson

Something cold and strong coiled itself around his ankle and suddenly pulled him down into the mud with great force.

Without thinking, Fridurick immediately screamed, only to get a mouthful of mud. He began to thrash wildly, chocking on the disgusting cold, slimy stuff that was leaking into his lungs and killing him. His chest began to burn with exertion, his limbs sore from hitting out into the thick, unforgiving mud that surrounded him. His thoughts became fuzzy and it was a relief when darkness took him over.

At some point, the darkness began to fade, and suddenly it wasn't pitch-black anymore. He could hear a distant _dip, drop, drip, drop..._

Slowly Fridurick became aware of his body. It was stiff, and tired and very cold. He groaned painfully and opened his bright blue eyes.

He was surrounded by white. He blinked a few times not understanding, before sitting up and looking around. He was still wearing hardly anything and usually the cold did not bother him (like most people who had survived as long as him in those times in Germania, he had grown pretty tough) but now he was shaking profusely. It embarrassed him a little.

He got to his feet and continued to blink sullenly looking about him. He did not recognise this place. It was white and stony all over, though he could hear water running and dripping in the distance.

"Hello?" he called out, but only an echo responded. Fridurick made a sulky noise in the back of his throat and crossed his arms.

'_Am I dead?'_ he wondered_, 'and is this some kind of...place for bad people?'_

Fridurick supposed he was, technically, a bad person, though he didn't really feel that he deserved the title or this level of punishment. It wasn't like anyone was killed in the fire or anything...

Suddenly there was a whizzing sound. Fridurick looked up to see several burning tiny balls of blue light flying towards him at top speed. He yelped as they flew past him and his skin erupted in pain. He looked down and saw some of the blue balls were still on him and causing him injury, though on closer inspection he saw that they were tiny winged blue humanoids that were viciously biting him.

"Ow, get off!" he roared, putting them off (making his skin bleed) and throwing them on the ground roughly. He proceeded then to stamp on one and to throw rocks at the others. The survivors sped away quickly.

"Woah, you're violent."

Fridurick whirled around to see a very pretty blonde boy and girl watching him. They had unnaturally bright and light skin (almost as if there was a light inside of them, lighting them up), very glossy long hair (even the boy) and a full set of white teeth and white robes not dissimilar to Roman togas.

"Who are you?" He asked, wondering if they had been killed like him. Only he was covered in mud and slime, where they looked amazing.

"We're your new masters," the boy grinned, "mummy bought you here because she likes to keep human children as her pets. You are to entertain us."

Fridurick snorted, "I don't have a master. No one tells me what to do."

"Nerthus does," replied the twins in unison, grinning maliciously as they peered at him.

"I've been murdered because of Nerthus!" he bit back, "where am I? Can I go back home?" he looked at his body, "I don't feel very dead," he said quietly, more to himself than the other two.

They slid down from the rocks they had been peeking over and walked over to Fridurick, one standing on either side of him. He now saw that on top of being beautiful and healthy, they also were a fair bit taller and built than he was (not that that was difficult, living off little food in a land of little light meant that Fridurick was pretty scrawny and unhealthy). He frowned at them but they paid no heed to his animosity.

"I am Freyr," said the boy, "and this is my sister Freya. We love each other very much." The twins stood in front of Fred and held hands whilst looking at each other so fondly that Fridurick pulled his most disgusted face. "We're going to take you to Nerthus now."

Fridurick suddenly felt very cold as blood drained from his face, "what do you mean you are taking me to Nerthus!" he screamed making the twins wince, "she's a goddess, I can't meet her! Besides I set fire to her! She'll kill me!"

"You said you were already dead," grinned Freya glancing sideways at him

"Well obviously I'm not," Fridurick crossed his arms, "I can still breath and I can feel my heart beating, so I must be alive. I want out of here and to go back home. Isn't all of this punishment enough? I just want to go home now."

"Well come with us and let's find out."

They took Fridurick inside a deep cavern, one that they would live in when they were full-fledged adults. As they entered the main hall, instead of a bed being placed in its centre, there was a large black throne. Upon this throne sat the tallest woman Fridurick had ever seen. She wore a long shimmering black robe that covered her feet. She held in her right hand a sceptre decorated with engravings of wagons, lakes and oxen. Her skin was pale and bloodless and her lips a deep green. Her hair was ice-white and piled high upon her head, with a few braids hanging down with beads wrapped around them.

"This is Nerthus," said Freyr gently pushing Fridurick further towards her.

Nerthus looked down at Fridurick a nasty smirk appearing on her lips. "Hello Fridurick," she said, her voice low and cold, "you are to join my merry little people, my twins have been quite excited about meeting you."

Fridurick whirled around and stared at the tall children radiating light behind him. They grinned at him.

"Th-they're your children?" he gasped, "so you are a god and goddess?"

Freya smiled sweetly, "not yet, but we soon will be."

"Never!" Nerthus suddenly barked out, her voice so frightening that Fridurick almost collapsed out of fear. She was still sitting on her throne as still as a deadly snake watching its prey and preparing to snap.

"Freyr and Freya will have some power," she said back in her normal tone, "I have given them the gift of governing spring. But they shall never be as powerful as I am."

The twins scowled slightly, but were wise enough to restrain themselves in front of their mother. Nerthus had now turned her attention back to Fridurick, evidently done with her children.

"You will live here now," she said, "and you will entertain my children. They have a habit of getting in the way and in trouble, but you will be their new playmate and will do whatever they ask, as long as it keeps them out of my face." She hissed the last part so viciously that Fridurick couldn't believe that she was the goddess in charge of watching over their births and fertility.

"M-may I," he began furtively, "may I go home at some point? Maybe after playing with them for a while?"

Nerthus gave him another hideous smirk and behind her figures began to shift in the darkness.

"You little fool," she purred, "you burned my effigy, you owe me a sacrifice and I will only accept you and your youth and so you will give it to me." Out of the shadows figures began to crawl out, children of all ages, some as white as Nerthus and wearing black. All of them had blank eyes and looked disturbingly vacant. "Children that are taken become our little pets, our elves and shades. You belong to me now and by extension my children. No one ever leaves here. You stay with me until I you are too old and too boring, and then you pass on to another world, into the truest death, into the darkness." Seeing Fridurick's horrified face, she smiled and leaned forward, "I will make a deal with you, if you like, if you are a good boy, and do exactly as I want, then when you are older and I grow bored of you, I will allow you to return to your family. How is that?"

Fridurick breathed heavily wondering what to do. "Is there no other way?" he whimpered, "I'm sorry about burning your statue, but it was an accident. Please, can I not go home sooner?"

"You ask too much!" she bellowed the wind whipping towards him throwing flecks of ice at his face and cutting his skin.

"Alright," he said tiredly, lowering his injured arms from around his face, "I accept. I will do what you want, just let me go home when I'm an adult."

Nerthus leaned back and grinned like a shark, "I promise you," she intoned, "that you will never be apart from your family."

Freyr and Freya almost had to carry Fridurick out of the cave. He was so shaken up he could barely put one foot in front of the other. When they finally made it outside, they let him sit down for a minute. His head dropped and he looked blankly at the white rocks between his legs. He was in shock.

"Will I be like them," he asked, "will I be like those children in there?"

"Not exactly," Freyr put his arm around Fridurick, "we don't want you to be a mindless doll." He glanced up at his sister who raised an eyebrow in question, but said nothing, "you'll have fun with us," he continued, "you get to play and mess around and to eat good food. You will like it with us. Then you can go back home, that's a lot better than what all the others get."

Freya rolled her eyes and shook her head in disapproval but Fridurick still did not see because he was still staring at the ground.

Losing patience, Freya took Fridurick's arms and dragged him up onto his feet. Gripping his forearms she looked him in the face. "You cannot go back home," she said in a firm voice very similar to her mothers, "you have to stay here and you have to obey. But at least you are with me and Freyr, you could have it a lot worse. Now come on, we have to go home."

They began to walk in a straight line, walking continuously until they got to the end of the world. Looking out into the vastness of space Fridurick screamed and leapt back, causing the other two to chuckle lightly. "Don't be afraid," said Freya as she held out her hand to the frightened red-head. Fridurick looked at the two child-gods. They looked beautiful behind them was the backdrop of infinite space, the stars and galaxies lighting up their hair and glittering in their blue eyes.

"Don't be afraid," Freyr echoed his sister.

Slowly Fred let out his arm which was grasped by Freya. With one long step all three of them stood forward and landed on the other side of the plain. Fridurick blinked the sunlight hurting his eyes. This land was a vast field, as if permanent spring time. The light breeze was scented with flowers, the sky was an azalea blue with fluffy white clouds merrily floating in a circular motion upon it. In the centre of this vast place was a huge, twisting tree that reached up into the sky.

"Welcome to Alfheimer," smiled Freya.

"And that's home," said Freyr pointing at the tree.

"Race you there," cried Freya pushing Fridurick.

He grinned as the two gods ran away, and after strengthening his resolve to keep his promise to Nerthus so that he could go home, Fridurick set off after them.

Inside the tree was a large, circular home. In its centre was a spiralling staircase which would lead the children up the tree and into higher rooms.

"Up there we have a few play rooms," informed Freya, pointed upstairs, "and some bedrooms, though we won't really need those..."

"Don't you have a bed-time?" Fridurick asked. Unlike most modern children, Fridurick actually quite liked sleep. Sometimes in his village sleep was the only respite from the day to day cold, hard toil in the fields and misery.

"No," answered the goddess, "mummy doesn't care too much about when we go to sleep." Fridurick felt like she needed to explain it in more detail, but decided not to push it as he didn't care about an explanation that much.

"Right now we're standing in the kitchen." Indeed next to them there was a small counter with a basin to one side, a window just above it and to the side was a pump for getting water. On the wall round to the side of the basin was another counter with stools underneath it, serving as a sort of archaic breakfast bar.

"So gods do eat," said Fridurick, realising that one of his oldest questions was now being answered.

"We don't have to," said Freyr, "but we like to eat the offerings humans make us." He shared a glance with his sister, as if they were using telepathy to agree whether or not Fridurick should be told more information. Evidently they decided that they could tell him, "the more offerings we get, the more humans sacrifice for us, then the more powerful we become. So, we don't have to eat, but we like to." He grinned at Fridurick, who frowned at the child-god's sharp canines.

"Round the back," Freya pointed at a silk green curtain being held up by a railing which served as a door, "is a small sitting room where we can relax. So as you can see, we have a lovely big home."  
"It is big," said Fridurick with wonder, "how does the tree stay alive?"

"It's magic," answered Freyr as if that were obvious, "and it's very important, it represents everything Freya and I are all about; youth and fertility and protection."

Fridurick beamed, "that's kind of nice. I wish we had worshipped you guys instead of your mum..." suddenly Fridurick clamped his hands over his mouth. He was so stupid! Now he had blasphemed against Nerthus again, this time in front of her children!

However, the two deities laughed and pulled Fridurick's hands down from his mouth.

"We wish you had worshipped us as well," smiled Freya, looking radiant and beautiful, "we want to be stronger than what we are, we think mummy is a bit too blood thirsty, we would be much nicer gods to worship."

Freyr pushed Fridurick onto one of the kitchen stools and said in a very serious voice, "Fridurick...Fride," he shortened, "we need you to understand that you are one of us now, you are our servant and our playmate. You mustn't repeat anything we have said to you here to mummy. Is that understood?"

Fridurick nodded, he would rather be allied to two deities he understood rather than the scary Nerthus; plus, if he pleased them, maybe they would let him go back home sooner.

"It's also pretty big," he continued, "I mean, there are only three of us."

"Well this is the thing Fride," grinned Freyr, "we would like more children to come live with us here."

"But that means we need to take them away from the Middle Realm, your world," continued Freya.

The twins grinned at Fridurick, making him feel uncomfortable.

"We want you to help us," they chimed.

"H-how?"

"Well," smirked Freyr, giving a side long glance at his sister, "if we teach you a bit of magic, we would like you to help us trick a few children into coming here."

Fridurick felt acutely uncomfortable now. Tricking other children? Sure, Alfheimer seemed like a nice place, but he had only been there for a few minutes, it was hardly enough time to decide if it was a good place to make other children go.

"What about their parents?" he asked, "I know you don't like your mother too much, but most kids in my world do like them. I don't think they'll want to be parted."

Freya crouched down beside Fridurick, making their heights more equal. "Fride," she said, sitting close and smelling faintly of flowers, "a lot of parents on the middle realm are very cruel to their children. They beat them, or have them go without food, or make them compete with their siblings for love and sometimes do even worse than that, but I daren't explain it all to you because your heart would be so broken." Fridurick stared at her wide blue eyes and almost felt like he was being enchanted, "we want these children to have a better life," she continued, "and they will with us. If we take you to middle realm, will you believe is then?"

"Maybe," he breathed entranced, and she smirked and moved away shortly afterwards.

"Excellent," announced Freyr, "then I propose that we teach Fride here a little _magic_!"


	10. Samhain pt 3

**A.N. As only two people read and review this story (KuroNeko and Melissa Ivory) I've decided to put myself out of my misery and just try to finish this story much more quickly. So the chapters may become longer as I am just trying to get it out there now. I worked really hard on this fic, I worked out this massive storyline and planned it for ages, but (apart from the aforementioned) no one reads this and no one reviews. It's just kind of heart-breaking and my self-esteem is pummelled every time I up-load a chapter. So, yeah, my sob story is over but explains why this chapter is long.**

* * *

**Last Time**: A young boy named Fridurick who lived in Neolithic Germania was drowned in a bog because of a misdemeanour against their goddess Nerthus. He is dragged away into a new world, where he meets the terrifying Nerthus and her twin son and daughter, Freyr and Freya. Fridurick agrees to be their servant and friend until he can, eventually, return home. The twins, rebellious and fickle, decide to teach Fride magic so that he can help them carry out their plans to steal more human children from the middle realm.

And now part two...

* * *

Samhain III- Welcome to Alfheimer

* * *

"We'll just teach you the basics," said Freyr, "namely, how to travel with speed and how to get from this realm to the middle realm."

"I thought that the only humans that could use magic were women who were born with it?" Fride queried thinking back to the priestesses of his village; men fought, women made magic. It's how things worked back home.

"That is true, but we can get some magic and put it into you." Freyr nodded to his sister, who was rooting around in one of the kitchen cupboards. Eventually she pulled out a small dial. Inside the dial was something sparkling and floating.

"It kinda looks like a little pixie," Fride gasped.

"I suppose so, but it isn't anything alive and conscious. This is magic. Magic is like energy." Freya looked into Fride's dark blue eyes, "it's also a secret, mummy doesn't know we have this and you must never tell her."

They spilled the floating sparkles on to the side and using a butter knife, separated a tiny piece of it before making Fride open his mouth and popping the essence into it.

Fride swallowed noisily. He could feel a strange tingling all the way down his throat until he disappeared into his tummy. He looked at them, expecting something to happen and when it didn't he began to whine.

"I thought I was supposed to go all magic-y? I'm exactly the same!" he complained, while they put the rest of the magic back away, "I thought I would turn like you guys."

The gods laughed heartily at this, making the resentment in Fride's gut settle a little bit more permanently, "you'll never be like us," they chimed merrily, "you'll never have our level of power."

"True, raw power," continued Freya with a smile, "comes from the deaths of others, if you can get people to sacrifice living things to you, your power and strength will grow, and if you can get humans to sacrifice themselves to you, then you become a god."

"I don't want to be a god," Fride bit back, feeling uncomfortable with such a dark subject, "I just wanted to be more like you is all." He didn't want to admit how small, scrawny and ugly he felt compared to them, but judging by their smug expressions, he figured that they already knew exactly how he was feeling.

"Ok, we'll start with the easiest thing, _Fading_." Freyr pointed outside of the window, "try to visualise yourself standing outside. You might need to close your eyes, this sort of thing takes a lot of concentration."

Fride obeyed, he was suspicious of closing his eyes around the two child-gods, but decided it was best to do as he was told; after all if he could learn how to wield magic, maybe he could get home on his own?

Shutting them, he began to think of outside, of what it would be like suddenly appearing there and being able to look back at the giant tree-home.

He opened his eyes. "I'm still inside!" he barked, "I can't do this, it's irritating!"

"Stop whining," sighed Freyr, sounding annoyed, "concentrate harder. I know you're not used to having to use your brain and definitely never used to using your imagination but you will now."

Fride crossed his arms, "well excuse me," he bit back resentfully, "we didn't have much time for day-dreaming and practicing our imaginations back home; we're usually too busy slaving away for you guys, who don't even _need_ to eat, and trying not to die."

Freyr took in a deep breath and appeared to be counting to ten, "look," he said at last, "I understand that you're angry, but...if you don't learn this you are of no use to us. If you are of no use to us," Freyr voice became colder, "then we will send you back to mommy and you can become one of her Shades and don't bother even thinking she will ever, ever let you go back home..."

"Freyr," cut in Freya sounding a little anxious.

"Fine," Fride interrupted her, his voice even more hoarse than usual due to the threat of tears and the growing sense of fear, "fine, I'll do it."

Sweating a little from the pressure, he closed his eyes again. He imagined how the blades of grass would feel on his bare feet, tickling them slightly. He imagined the light breeze around his skin. He imagined the warmth of the sun heating up the side of his body it beat down upon. He tried to imagine the smell; it would be the smell of late spring, clear and fresh. He took in a deep breath through his nose and sighed, he could actually smell it! Opening one eye nervously before looking around, he saw that he was now standing on a hill. The tree was quite far away. Fride gaped, his wish to be away from the gods must have mixed in with his command to go outside, that's why he ended up so far from the tree.

Maybe, with practice, he could get back to middle realm, back to his home, with a little bit of thought? He would wait for the night to come, then he would imagine home. He felt better with this plan, and allowed himself a grin.

"Oh, you look almost attractive when you smile," purred out Freya's voice, making him leap back, the grin now gone. The god-children stood behind him, smiling benevolently.

"That's Fading," said Freyr, "You begin to glow and fade away into a new place. Ok, let's try Fading to a certain person. Freya," he looked at his sister who evidently knew what he wanted. She stood very still and, Fride watched in amazement as she began to glow a white colour, little gold sparkles floating around her body. Then she slowly faded away and was gone.

"That's what you did earlier," Freyr smiled at Fride's amazed facial expression, "only you glow a sort of emerald colour. What I want you to do now is imagine Freya, imagine standing by her side."

Fride nodded and closed his eyes and, like Freya, stood as still as possible, focussing on Freya. He imagined her long golden hair, he imagined her scent of flowers, the softness of her dress...

His eyes jerked open suddenly as he realised he was now sitting on top of the goddess.

"Ah, sorry!" he stammered out, feeling his face flushing. Freya just laughed.

"Well done," she giggled, "I think you imagined me _too_ well!"

"What next?" he asked, feeling happy and breathless.

The twins (for Freyr had reappeared, fading in with the same light and sparkles as Freya had) looked at each other and communicated silently for a moment.

"We don't want to teach you too much," said Freya slowly, still looking at her brother, "so we will leave it there for now."

"Besides," Freyr smiled, turning back to Fride, "you don't need to know much more than that, not for the jobs we want you to do."

"Right, you want us to steal more children away."

"That is correct, but let's get you clean and in some actual clothes first."

The twins had put Fride into a bath of large soapy water and left him alone for a few minutes. Fride was pretty relieved. His bones ached, though he wasn't sure if that was from being dragged through the bogs or from practicing Fading. He sighed and sunk into the bubbles. He had never known warm water before, never mind water with bubbles in it. '_Best not get too used to it,'_ he decided, _'I'm going to return home tonight. I can't wait to see __Aenor again_.' Thinking of his younger sister made his stomach churn slightly. He missed her already and it had only been a few hours. Mother would be half mad by the time he got back; she would no doubt be terrified of the wrath of Nerthus, but he didn't care. He would run away with Aenor if he had to, maybe go and live with witches in order to improve the magic he now possessed. Then he could protect Aenor and they would live their lives merrily, free of sacrifice and hardship and of being pawns to the whims of the gods.

He rubbed his hands through his hair, scrubbing the thick mud out of it roughly; Fride had never been gentle with his own body as he came from a place where looks weren't particularly important and due to centuries of rough weather and starvation, no one looked very attractive, with the exception of Aenor who was very beautiful, everyone in the village said so. Most children were like Fride, rough and thin and pale with a slightly wild look about them. Aenor was different, where he was pale she looked willowy, where he was thin she was delicate, where he was rough and wild, she was tame and gentle. She was a little like his mother in that sense - though Fride didn't like to think of his mother in a positive manner most of the time due to their strained relationship- he had to admit that she was, like Aenor, very demure. It worried him, in all honesty. Fride always felt as if his mother wasn't really cut out for their world because despite the fact that she had been born into it, she was too soft. It had been his father's protection that had kept her alive and well for so long, doubtless had she not been with a man as good as father, she would have died from weakness or misery long ago. There was evidence in this from her behaviour since father had died in the war. She had become increasingly reliant on the goddess, becoming insanely superstitious and so aggravated by Fride and his antics that they didn't even have a nice relationship anymore. The last few years Fride felt as if she had done nothing but chastise and demean him.

'_She could have saved me tonight,'_ he thought, _'she could have taken me and Aenor and run away, but she didn't, she just cried and prayed until they took me away and tried to murder me.'_

He wiped away his angry tears with frustration; he hated it when he did baby things like crying. Imagine if Freyr or Freya caught him crying! The humiliation would be too much. Freyr had almost made him cry earlier but the thought of returning to Aenor had been enough to keep Fride going, despite the threats of being turned over to the mercy of Nerthus.

'_What will happen to Aenor if I'm not there while she's growing up?'_ he thought, going back to musing over his home-life without him, _'even if she survives mother's madness and makes it into adulthood, she might not be as lucky as mother to marry a nice man. She's pretty, so lots of men will want her._' (Thisthought alone horrified him)._ 'She could end up marrying young, maybe as young as eleven or twelve, to some nasty man who will treat her more like a prize than a person. No, I cannot wait as long as Nerthus wants, I need to get home, and I will do it tonight!'_

Getting out of the bath he rubbed himself down with a soft, fluffy cloth before looking at the clothes that had been laid out for him; a yellow sleeveless shirt, some green breeches, long yellow socks and a green tunic. He put it all on, feeling slightly foolish in the fancy gear. _'This isn't me,'_ he thought, _'I'm more simple than this. Oh gods, I want to go home."_

He walked down the winding staircase to the last floor, where, in the living room, Freyr and Freya handed him a pair of red boots. He wrinkled his nose at them, but the twins insisted, doing up the buckles and laces for him as they were too complicated for him.

"We're ready," grinned Freyr, "let's hold hands."

Fred stood in the middle, holding a hand of each of the taller twins. He kept his eyes open as they - knowing where they wanted to go - began to concentrate. Around him misty white and green tendrils began to fly encircling them. Eventually the scenery began to fall away, fading momentarily into nothing, before re-building itself. They sky became dark, even the stars blocked out by the heavy clouds. Buildings began to appear either side of them, showing that they were now in a street in a town.

Fride had never seen anything like it.

"Welcome to _Eboracum_," smiled Freyr.

"Ebor- what? What is this place?"

"It's a very new town," answered Freya. "But it's gaining popularity."

They began to walk through, Fride amazed at the size of the buildings. "Do giants live here?"

The twins laughed, "no," they answered, "but the Romans have begun some building here, and they were always much better at it than you guys."

Fride frowned a little. The Romans were not people he knew much about, but he didn't like them. He knew that they were supposed to think themselves very superior to his people and that a lot of his people had been attacked and killed by the Romans.

"They're new here," said Freya, as if she had heard Fride's thoughts, "and they do not worship us. They have tainted our people here, the ones who did believe in us, and instead they are encouraging everyone to worship some new eastern gods." She pointed to a tall building which had a symbol upon it. It looked like a cross with a circle on it.

"We're going to make them remember us," smiled Freyr, "before adding our favour to our devoted worshippers and helping destroy the Romans once and for all."

Fride thought it was cruel to force people to change their gods, even if the said people were Romans, but he tried to keep his thoughts quiet, he didn't want to anger Freyr or Freya and who knows what they had already possibly heard from out of his mind?

The twins began to glow slightly, sniggering as they did.

"You do the same," whispered Freya to Fride, "we want them to see us."

"Can they not now?"

"No, we're invisible to the human eye. But let off this slight glow, and it'll allow children to spot you."

Fride began to stare at his hands, willing them to glow. It took a few minutes, but eventually, he began to lighten. It wasn't as bright as Freyr and Freya but it was still pretty amazing.

"Do I have to concentrate this hard constantly?" he asked.

"Yes or it'll turn off," answered Freya, "just get used to it. It's only using your brain."

They snuck through the streets quietly until they reached the largest grandest home in all of Eboracum. "This is called a villa," whispered Freyr to Fride, "all the richest Romans live in these. A young ruler, fat and spoiled, lives here. He's own men hate him."

"We're going to encourage them to murder him," sniggered Freya.

"But first we're going to sneak away his child. We wouldn't want it here when the soldiers turn on their leader."

They crept up to a window and the god-twins began to softly sing:

_Come with us_

_Come with me_

_Come dance under the old oak tree_

_Forget all those you used to know_

_Memories fade like the melting snow_

_Come with us_

_Come with me_

_Come dance under the old oak tree_

It was the most beautiful singing Fride had ever heard, and for a moment he actually forgot to breathe he was so taken in by it. It was only when he could smell the rank, acrid stench of their more powerful magic under it that he realised their beautiful voices were no more than a disguise under magic.

"_I wonder what they really sound like?" _he thought_, "I wonder what they really look like? I pray that with all my magic, I will still never be as fake as they are. I hope always to be true to who I am."_

Soon enough a young boy peered out of the window. He had jet black hair and eyes that were so dark they too looked black. His skin was olive and looked oiled and rich. The child himself was well-fed and healthy, healthier than any human child Fride had ever seen before.

"_No wonder the Romans are so mighty,"_ Fride thought, "_they_ _must live very well. That boy, I bet he gets to eat meat every day."_

"Come with us," whispered Freyr and Freya together, "come on, we have somewhere fun for you to go, come with us."

The boy bit his lip. His eyes were bright with curiosity, but Fride could tell that he wasn't won over just yet. "_What is it that_ _this child wants_?" he thought_, "it isn't toys or games, it isn't food, he has all of those things. He must be loved to have those things, his family must care for him, so it probably isn't love either."_ As he thought, he could feel the magic inside him churning and whirling in his stomach. "_The magic wants to reach out to him,_" he decided, before closing his eyes and focusing very, very hard.

The magic spread out from him, like a bird beating its powerful wings, and threw itself into the boy, searching through his emotions and thoughts and personality. All of these things were translated back into Fride. He couldn't understand in words what the boy was feeling or what he needed but Fride somehow, through the power of the magic, knew.

Opening his eyes again Fride began to whisper with the twins but instead of offering games he said, "come with us Titus, come with us because we will be your friends forever! You'll always be with us!"

The boy, Titus, suddenly grinned and all his previous fears and misgivings vanished. He nodded and disappeared from the window, no doubt running down the stairs to meet them outside.

While they waited, freyr and Freya turned to Fride, "how did you do that?" asked Freya.

"How did you know what that boy wanted?" continued her twin, "and how did you know his name?"

"I don't know," shrugged Fride with a hint of his usual surliness, "I just knew. The magic told me, or something, I'm not sure."

He suddenly was distracted by Titus who came bounding out of the villa to give Fride a warm hug.

"Will we always be friends?" asked Titus, "do you swear it?"

"I do," answered Fride honestly, not noticing the concerned and threatened looks Freya and Freyr were giving one another.

xxXXxx

They took Titus back to Alfheimer, where he immediately began to run around screaming and shouting excitedly.

"He needs more friends," grinned Freyr, "I and Fride will get some more. Come Fride."

"What now?"

"Yes," Freyr rolled his eyes but grinned, "he's a lonely little boy and we can't keep him entertained the whole time. Freya will attend to him for now and you could do with honing your magic. Come."

When Fride and Freyr faded again, they then ended up in a place covered in snow and ice.

"This is where the north-men live," informed Freyr. "Don't worry, use your magic to keep you warm."

"Won't magic run out?" grumbled Fride, still hoping to get away from the gods as soon as he could, "Freya said it was like energy, so does that mean it can be exhausted eventually?"

"I believe your vocabulary is improving in the short time you've been with us," smiled Freyr, "when you first came to the elf-lands you looked a mess, attacking pixies and wearing your loin cloth. You're practically a gentleman now."

"You're speaking as if I arrived many years ago," scoffed the boy, "you can't have changed me in so many hours. I am just smarter than you give me credit for. And you aren't answering my question, I noticed that too. So there."

"Magic can run out," answered Freyr, still smiling good naturedly, "but it would take a long, long, long time before that could happen to you. You'll probably die before it runs out."

"And what will you do then?"

"Drain the magic back out of your corpse of course," Freyr looked at Fride, "we wouldn't want to waste good magic by leaving it in you. Aha, we're here now!"

They were at a medium sized town, with a large beautiful building near its edge.

"Does an important man live there?" asked Fride.

"You could say so," answered the boy-god dryly, "their god lives there. They worship a new one. It's of no importance. But we are taking their children as punishment."

"How many?"

"All of them. I want you to use that magic you did before, the one that spread itself out and reached Titus before. I want you to do it again, but this time calling as many children as possible."

Fride nodded unsurely. He didn't think he could do what Freyr wanted, and was worried that he would use up his magic, despite Freyr assurances, but he did not want to go against the god, so instead he took in a deep breath and first concentrated on letting himself glow. This, he felt, woke up all the children who had been sleeping. Then he called his magic to seek them all out once again. He felt it rise like a bord, flapping its huge sparkling green veil-like wings and flying out to all the children.

He could see little Anya, who was awake and frightened but looking for adventure.

He saw Leif who just wanted his father to care for him.

He could sense the misery of Borghild who wanted her big sister to stop bullying her.

He could taste the happiness Knut felt for he had a new baby brother born to him that day.

He could feel the beating heart of a new-born called Erik.

He could also feel the marks on Ingrid's back after her mother had whipped her mercilessly for not doing her chores correctly.

On and on he felt what they felt, tasted what they tasted, smelt what they smelt, heard what they heard and saw their families, their memories, their perceived futures and their hopes and aspirations.

Feeling overwhelmed, he opened his eyes and looked about him. All around he and Freyr were children of various ages. Many of them were siblings and holding the hands of their brothers or sisters. They were dressed differently from any children Fride had known; their clothes seemed more refine and expensive, yet with the exception of the house built for god, the town did not seem to be a particularly wealthy one.

"Hello children," crooned Freyr, "don't you want to come with us? It will be fun, we'll play all day and you'll never get old."

"What about our parents?" asked a girl called Igrid, "won't they miss us?"

"We'll swap you with some fakes," grinned Freyr, "just until you come back home. They will never know you spent time with us."

"_He's lying_," Fride realised, _"they aren't going back home at any point. They'll keep the children with us. I heard their song from earlier, the children will forget! They'll forget who they are. Will I as well? I can't let that happen, I have to go along with this madness until they all go to bed and I can sneak away. I have no choice but to trick these children into coming with me!"_

He felt his magic still reaching out to them, and he knew that it was him that they were interested in, it was him who pulled them towards he and the god-child. They would listen to Fride and Fride only.

"Come on!" Roared Fride suddenly, "I'll race you to the great tree that stands in the middle of our land!"

The children squealed and cried out in joy at Fride's challenge, and Fride began to fade, feeling his magic touching them all and pulling them into Alfheimer with him.

"_Gods forgive me for what I am doing," _he thought, before realising it was the gods who were making him do these things.

xxXXxx

After Norway, Fride and Freya travelled to India and took a child from there because Freya liked the look of his hair.

Then he went to Austria with both twins, leaving their growing hoard at home, to collect four siblings who were being treated appallingly by their mother.

They went to England and took a child who was being forced to work in mines.

And on and on and on it went. Fride began to enjoy his job more and more. He became increasingly involved with the children. He would learn all about them before taking them away from their homes and placing them in Alfheimer. There he would play with them and have all sorts of fun before being called out again.

But then, slowly, the twins began to leave to collect children from the middle realm without him more often. It didn't really hurt Fride's feelings though, in fact, he hardly noticed, for he was so involved with playing games with his new friends.

xxXXxx

Fridurick arrived in the house, behind Freyr. They had all been racing to the tree house again. It wasn't surprising that the god had won for he was much large than Fride or any of the others. Freyr and Freya always won every game. It was just a fact of life. He cried out when the other children crashed in behind him, all screaming and laughing. They all wore green, just like Fridurick, and all of them were children of differing ages.

"Fride," Freya whispered his nickname into his ear, "come with me for a moment."

He went upstairs, living Freyr with the others playing bull-dog, following Freya. The stairs were narrow and twisting, which made sense as they were in a giant tree. They arrived on a landing which led to a door, which she pushed open and beckoned Fridurick into.

Inside was a bedroom, with a large bed, a window behind it and a chest of drawers. Toys were littered all over the floor, but toys could always be found everywhere. She sat on the bed and took into her hands a small bundle.

"What is that?" he asked from the doorway.

Freya smirked, "come inside, shut the door and sit on the bed with me."

He did as she asked, finding it a little strange. Nearly everything he did with Freya he did with Freyr also, He was unaccustomed to doing things with only one of them.

However, he did as he was told and that was something he was accustomed to. He didn't like obeying, it went against his very nature, but he was too afraid to ever say no to the twins.

Sitting on the bed, she passed the bundle over to him. He opened it and realised it was new clothing. He looked at his old clothes, the ones the twins had given him earlier that day after his bath, only he realised with a jolt that they were quite small and very tattered.

"We want you to wear the same green uniform as the others Fride," she said, "it's fitting as you work for the gods of spring. Plus," she looked him up and down, "you are getting big now, you need better clothes."

Suddenly Fridurick felt a little weird and uncomfortable. It's true he had been changing but...had he changed that much?

"How long have I been here?" he asked suddenly, feeling his face pale and then burn with the shock and realisation of what had been going on, "it's never been night...it's never been night here! It's still the same day, isn't it? But, I've done so much! That cannot all be done in a day...I can't remember the last time we slept or when it was winter or anything."

"There is no winter here," answered Freya, her eyes darkening slightly, "there is no night, only games and gaiety. This is the realm of my brother and I and we dislike those things."

"I noticed that more children were coming, ones I had no part in collecting but...it all seems like one long day...how long has it been? How old am I? Freya?"

"Calm down Fride," she sighed, "it's been some years," she shrugged, "time is a human construction, we don't care about it because we're immortal."

"_I've missed my time,"_ thought Fride, "_wasn't I supposed to leave during the night? But there is no night now! Damn it all, how could I be so stupid? I forgot, I forgot my plan because I was so caught up in the madness! But, but then again, if it's been years then this means I'm a bit closer to going home, soon I'll be a man and Nerthus will allow me to return to the middle realm, the realm where my family live. I'll be able to see my sister again!'_

"Stop thinking about other women," complained Freya, snaking her arm around Frid's shoulders. "Did you know, I have something to celebrate, other than you growing up?"

"What's that?" grinned Fridurick, feeling in good humour.

"I am now the goddess of fertility!"

Fride gaped, "I thought your mother was in charge of that."

"Well more and more humans are worshipping me now," she smirked, "I'm known as Frigga, Freya and Fridja. I don't mind them changing my name slightly, it's only natural." She gave Fride a devious side glance, "mother's furious and insanely jealous. But it's not my fault, Freyr and I have been doing so well making sure that spring is wealthy and good to our followers and damning all those who disobey us and worship others gods by taking their children, that it's only natural that they'll now pray to us for fertility and happy marriage beds." She stretched before laying herself out on the bed, "what do you think?"

"Ummm...urrrrr..." said Fride intelligently, making her grin at him.

"Shall we celebrate?" she asked, sitting back up in order to pull Fridurick down with her, "just us together? After all, you're becoming a man now, and I'm an expert in making sure they have a great time entering manhood."

xxXXxx

"Why won't you let me come with you anymore?"

Freyr laughed, making Fride scowl harder. The twins were leaving again to collect more children and he was, again, being left behind. It was bad enough that he had missed his chance to escape, but now he was trying to keep a grip on time, and he could only do that if he kept visiting the middle realm; on Alfheimer time was just impossible to keep a track of. But he could watch his own body. He knew he was getting taller; he knew the other kids were getting taller. Titus looked around ten years old, when they had first collected him he had looked about seven. Besides that, Fride's feelings were changing. He felt strange sometimes around Freya, especially since that day, and many of the other older-looking girls they now had. He also was getting tired of playing.

"You don't need to come with us," Freyr said when the laughter finally stopped, "stay here and looking after the little elves." He grinned as five little green clad children raced past him screaming.

"The fields are becoming full of children," spat Fridurick, gesturing to outside, "why do you need to take more children from the humans? It's unkind, taking them away from their families."

"How is it unkind?" retorted Freyr, looking up the stairwell and seeing his sister; a grin broke out on his face, "we're giving them a better life, plus we replace some of them with our shades,' he added absentmindedly. Fride saw who he was staring at and pulled Freyr forward so he could no longer see Freya and would have to focus on him.

"I won't run away if that's what you are worried about. Even though I'm a man now and it's only fair..."

Freyr interrupted with a snort and short derisive laughter, "you are not a man Fride, trust me. My sister is just very, very lascivious which only natural in our profession." He sighed dreamily making Fride roll his eyes.

"I know I'm much older now, even if you won't tell me my exact age. I'm sure I am older than fourteen, and that's when people in my village were getting married and being drafted in to wars. Let me come with you to collect this child. I won't run I swear it. I always went with you before, you used to let me I remember. I don't forget like all these idiots," he pointed at the children playing outside. None of them really remembered their parents, or he assumed they didn't as they never mentioned their past lives.

Freyr considered him quietly for a moment. Fride blinked and tried not to be hypnotised by how beautiful Freyr was; before when they had had this argument, Freyr ended up staring at Fride, who had in turn been so enchanted by his blue eyes that he had suddenly blinked and everyone was gone. Mina, one of the little girls who had newly arrived as an elf had informed him that he had been standing there with a stupid gaping mouth and wide eyes for hours even after Freyr was gone.

Freyr squinted his eyes, seeing that Fride wasn't falling for the same trick. "Just stay here and play Fride that's an order."

He turned to walk away, now joined by Freya, when Fride decided to do something he had never had the nerve to do before. He challenged them.

"No!" he cried, making them both stop in their tracks, "I'm...I'm _bored_! I'm tired of playing games. I'm too old for this now." He felt himself growing red, feeling angry and frightened, "please let me go with you, just for a while, let me do something other than playing with small children. I'll be good. Please."

He looked up and suddenly felt himself turning pale.

The sky outside darkened, making the child-elves whimper and cry. Never had the sky been overcast in Alfheimer before. Freyr and Freya began to change, their hair darkened and their skin began to turn white. They slowly began to turn to face Fridurick, who felt close to wetting himself with fear.

"You will do as we say," they spoke at the same time, their voices somehow echoing and slowly raising their heads to show their pitiless black eyes and sharp teeth. "You will stay here Fridurick, or we shall throw you to the mercy of our mother whose effigy you _burned_!"

Fride gulped, "I'm sorry," he said quietly, hating the words and hating his cowardice and hating the whole situation, "I just miss Earth, that's all."

The sun re-appeared outside and the twins were back to their usual appearance. Freyr stepped forward and brushed Fride's messy red hair. "Don't worry," he said, "we will make sure that you stop feeling this way." Leaning forward he placed a gentle kiss on Fride's lips. Fridurick stared blankly for a while, before breaking out in a grin and declaring; "well, better go outside and play! Come on Mina, let's play hide and seek!" A cheer was raised outside as the younger ones ran about Fridurick's feet, allowing the gods to sneak away unhindered.

"That spell won't last forever," whispered Freya to her brother.

"It will last long enough," he replied confidently. "His desire to see his family again will rise, but he is now trapped in the mind of a child permanently, which is fine by me. We should do it to all our little stolen babes."

"Then we shall," they smiled at one another and shared a kiss before entering Earth Realm.

* * *

**A.N. Anyone reading might notice that I make Fred quite whiny in this. My reasons are:**

**1- It's in character**

**A lot of fics portray Fred as very sensitive, or very fun and sweet, or as really sexy.**

**Personally I never got that impression from the film. He isn't mature and sexy, he's a doofus who happens to be good looking. He is quite fun, but in a child-like manner, he isn't particularly 'fun' on an adult way. He can be sweet and sensitive, but often chooses not to be. Fred is a child. It's like he's stuck being temperamental, young boy. So, as I'm writing him as a child I imagine he would be quite precocious, confident and, to be honest, kind of moody. Seriously, watch the film, he's in a bad mood a lot of the time. While Lizzy seems to always be mad at him, he's nearly always at his wits end with her as well.**

**2- He has good reason to be unhappy.**

**I don't think I really need to explain, but in the film there seemed to be an underlying unhappiness, even anger, in Fred. Of course, that might be me reading waaaay too much into the film, but I decided that I could use that theory that he is essentially chained in this existence of perpetual childhood and that he might not be that happy about it. Plus, in this his situation currently is basically a curse. The fic will go on to explain how he becomes an actual imaginary friend.**

**Finally, I hope anyone reading this isn't freaked by him getting with Freya. It's not a real relationship or anything (don't worry) but she is a fertility goddess and he's a raging pervert in the film (come on, Fred is NO innocent!) so I just put in what I thought would be likely. Plus, as I'm sure anyone reading this has guessed, by the time she is putting her moves on him, he is not a little boy anymore.**

**Again, please review and show support.**


	11. Polly

**Warnings- disturbing chapter. Sexual situation (kinda), racism, sexism, homophobia. Lots of horror in this. So, yeah, proceed with caution. Apologies in advance for my terrible attempts of writing rhyme (a rapper and a poet I am not). **

**This is a short chapter, and is dedicated to Kuro Neko who cheered me up after I had a bit of an emotional meltdown in the last chapter. :)**

* * *

Polly sat in her arm chair, slouched in her stained silky nightgown and wearing ugly, but comfortable, fluffy slippers. She slurped her iced tea unattractively as she watched the news report with cynical eyes. Polly was not a sympathetic woman and though recent months had not been kind to her ( what with her daughter abandoning her emotionally and physically resulting in Polly somewhat falling apart due her self esteem of being able to control someone weaker than her now completely diminished) she was still as hard-faced and self-centred as she had ever been.

'_I should call Elizabeth I suppose,'_ she thought bitterly, '_but I don't think I will. She has that giggling idiot of a boyfriend to watch over her now, all while I sit alone in this house. It's all her fault...'_

Her thoughts trailed off into violent and emotional thoughts that were less cohesive sentences and more like a bizarre picture show arranged by an avant-garde film director at his most pretentious; Polly was a very angry woman.

"_Well that's what happens when you live so close to the city,_" she thought bitterly once her thoughts had somewhat composed themselves_, "any fool would know that cities are full of poles and chinks just waiting to steal your job or rip you off, women wearing men's clothing and acting like men, and drive-by shooting by blacks and spiks, men marrying other men and lesbians adopting children and animals, good god what was she thinking?"_

She switched off the television. The room fell silent.

It was sort of nice, the quiet, she had never had any real quiet when Nigel and Lizzy had been around, constantly making noise and braking things and shouting. Polly should have never been a mother. She hated noise and mess and little people and cute things. What she did like was quietness and stability and power, especially the power of always being right, so instead of calling Lizzy and asking if she was ok because a giant octopus monster was near where she lived, Polly decided to sit back and imagine all manner of horrible things happening to Lizzy, her grinning buffoon boyfriend (Polly didn't know his name and didn't care to learn it) and Nigel.

She had her eyes closed and did not notice the lights in the hallway going out one by one. Then creeping swirling shadows began to climb into her living room, crawling across her ceiling before looping down like spiders webs to the floor. The lamps in the living room fluttered and then shut down completely. Darkness reigned.

With a strange sticky sort of sound, figures of black-clad, pale skinned children began to walk out of the walls, their arms raised in front of them like zombies in an old horror film. One, two, three, four, five, six, six shades in all came out of the wall. Their blank eyes observed one another for a moment before they all turned in unison to look at Polly, who was still sitting on her chair with her eyes closed and a malicious grin on her face.

"One, two, three, four, five, six," the children began to whisper together at a rapid pace, "one, two, three, four, five, six!"

Polly frowned and opened her eyes. The room was very dark; all of the lights must have turned off. Also, it was cold, really, really cold. Polly let out a shiver and sigh, before gasping to see her breath coming out in a puff of ice-white smoke.

"What on earth!" she cried, before hearing the whispers of children behind her. She turned around and let out a mighty scream. Six children were staring blankly at her. They all looked dead, with blue-tinged lips, sightless eyes and limp bodies. It was like someone took six corpses and turned them into puppets that could only barely stand and move their lips.

Polly couldn't even speak she was so frightened; instead she stumbled back until she hit the television.

"One, two, three, four, five, six!" they chimed, "One, two, three, four, five, six! One, two, three, four, five, six!"

Then all at once the children's' mouths dropped open in six silent screams. Their eyes rolled in their sockets before finishing back on her.

"Stop!" screamed Polly unable to hold herself back, fear taking her and shaking her wildly, "stop it! Please!"

"One, Gunthar!" cried one child followed immediately by;

"Two, Sinita!" then,

"Three, Bethan!"

"Four, Ahmed!"

"Five, Jonathan!"

"Six," the last child, the furthest away from Polly, with long auburn straggly hair and a deep voice said, "Sarah."

The girl looked up with the same brown eyes Polly and Lizzy shared. Polly let out another scream, this one of sheer horror and terror so loud and so high that it felt like it tore itself from out of her throat. Her knees turned to water and she fell to the floor, shaking profusely and weeping heavily. As she did the children began to amble slowly towards her, singing as they did;

"_One, two, three, four, five, six,_

_Stayed under earth to worship,_

_The great goddess of the dark,_

_The great goddess with no heart,_

_She'll rip your child from the womb,_

_Drag your siblings to their doom,_

_All beware the goddess in black,_

_She will give you a heart attack_

_Heart attack, heart attack, heart attack!"_

Polly felt a shooting pain plundering through her heart before her entire left side seemed to go numb and cold. She fell onto the floor, gasping for breath and finding none, her ears full of the children crying 'heart attack, heart attack!'

Just as her vision began to fade, she suddenly had a gasp of air and opened her eyes. She was lying in bed, flat on her back. She stared up at the ceiling, her body shivering and covered in sweat. She willed her heart beat to slow down, but before it did, she realised there was an uncomfortable weight on her chest. "I need to get up!" she suddenly thought, "I need to get up and run!" her eyes so wide that the whites showed all around her irises, she tried to sit up, craning her head and making her neck ache, but there was something heavy on her chest. It was like her whole body was paralysed and she couldn't get up and all of that was adding to her panic.

Then, Polly felt long claws grazing across the bare skin on her arms. She let out a scream, good god something was holding her down! There was a chuckle, and something rumbled on top of her. "Get off!" she thought, "please, get off me!" but she couldn't yet speak. The thing then began to drag its claws sensuously across her bare legs, getting higher and higher, past her knees, onto her mid thighs, between them.

She screamed again, feeling increasingly angry and less frightened. As the thing bit her thigh, she screamed again, though this time it was more of a warrior's cry. With a sudden surge of energy, whatever magical hold this thing had on her was broken, and she was able to sit up. Looking down she saw a hideous creature sitting smugly and far too comfortably between her legs. It was drawing its bulbous arms up and down her legs. It turned its bug eyes to her and said in a voice that sounded strange and guttural, "come now, I've seen your fears, let me pleasure you and take you away from here." The creature sounded like it was making animal noises but badly disguising them as human sounds and English words. She shook her head and pulled away from the being, slowly removing her legs. Its large bat like ears wiggled a little, but it made no other movement to show what it may have been feeling at that moment.

"Too old for me anyway," it sniffed after a while, "maybe your succulent daughter shall she more accommodating," it began to drool all over the bed.

"You don't touch her," whispered Polly, still completely lost and confused but understanding enough to be defensive, "you touch my daughter and I'll kill her."

"Raping her body wouldn't be as bad as you raping her innocence," the thing grinned, showing off yellow and cracked fangs. "I must return to my realm. I'll say hello to your sister while I'm there."

Suddenly all the lights snapped back on and the creature was gone. Polly looked down and realised with shame that in her fear and panic, that she had wet herself.

**XXX**

**A.N.- Ok so first of all I made Polly a pretty vile person. I think it suits her character. Polly is an old fashioned bully. She bullies her own daughter in the film. So to me, it makes sense that she would look down on anyone she could see as inferior. So being a suburban, middle class, heterosexual white lady, she could look down on immigrants, homosexuals, and different races. If you think it didn't work, let me know, but as I say I think she's a bully and so it suits her. Don't worry, I will show her in good and bad lights (as I've tried to do with Annabella and as I've tried to do with our 'good guys', such as Mickey.)**

**Monsters- the children were the Shades, Nerthus' children that she stole away and turned into her 'pets', we saw them previously when Fride went to 'Otherworld' for the first time and tried to break a new deal with Nerthus. There is more to do with Shade six, Sarah, can you guys figure out who or what she is or what her story might be?**

**The monster at the end is an incubus. Incubus isn't just a cool band or Edward Cullen in the last book. No, Incubi are ugly monsters that were used to explain paralysis that people sometimes experience when they first wake up. They are traditionally very ugly and oftentimes also rapists. So that's why this incubus was a total perv. I hope you got creepy vibes from him as that was totally the intention.**

* * *

**Next time: Nigel gets involved in the action. We're getting closer to the big reunion. Just one more chapter...**


	12. Nigel

A.N.- I re-jigged some chapters, so you may have to read the previous chapter (which was also a new one- it was short and about Polly but needs to be read).

* * *

**Last time: Lizzy and Mickey saw the bridge that Joanne (his ex-wife and Natalie's mom) would have been on being destroyed. Natalie was traumatised by the shade that came out of her closet.**

**Polly was attacked in her home.**

* * *

"If we can just survive the night," Mickey said, "then we can run during the day. Monsters only ever come out at night, don't they?"

Lizzy didn't answer. Instead she picked up Natalie and took her back upstairs. "I'll put her in our room," she said from the stairs, "we can both go to bed now."

Lizzy know that Mickey was upset about Joanne. _"I wonder if a part of him still loved her?"_ she thought as she lay down his daughter. "_It wouldn't surprise me. I'm sure part of me still belongs to..." _she thought she would say 'Charles' but instead Fred's image came to her mind. She blinked and shook her head, willing the smiling visage of Fred to disappear. Her heart didn't completely belong to Mickey, she understood and accepted that much. She also knew that really, Mickey needed to be alone that night. He needed to mourn for Joanne; the least she could do was watch over Natalie as he did that.

She looked over at the clock by the bed. 11:49. Soon it would be midnight. _"The witching hour,_" she realised_. "Oh god, what more horrors will appear then?"_ She knew that these things that were happening were not of this world, but that of some sort of magical one, one that was invaded on her world. Sort of like how Fred's existence shouldn't have been allowed, because he naturally caused chaos when in this realm. He didn't belong here, his magic didn't belong here, and neither did any of the monsters that she now saw attacking news anchors.

"_Maybe I should call mom?"_ Lizzy began to dress for bed, _"but then again, she probably doesn't want to hear from me. Oh who am I kidding? She never wants to hear from me. Besides, I think all of this is just happening in the city."_ Part of her wondered if she should turn on the news to continue watching events unfolding, but she changed her mind. She had seen enough horrors for one day; the death of someone she knew was more than enough. Emotionally exhausted, she crawled into the bed, making sure there was space for Mickey and that Natalie would be in the middle of them. _"No one is coming after you now Natalie." _She stared at the wardrobe Mickey had nailed shut_. "I'll protect you, I swear."_

As if hearing Lizzy's thoughts, Natalie suddenly opened her eyes and peered about in a dazed manner before jumping when she saw Lizzy looking down at her.

"I'm sorry!" Lizzy said quickly, "I didn't mean to scare you. Are you ok? Oh of course not...but...don't worry. Daddy is just downstairs. We're together and safe, ok?"

Natalie stuck her thumb in her mouth and nodded, but Lizzy saw her eyes welling up with tears.

"Oh Natalie, I'm so sorry for all the scariness that has happened recently." She paused, before pulling the girl on to her lap and giving her a kiss on the head. Natalie shivered slightly. "Are you frightened of me, Natalie? What did I do to make you scared of me?"

Natalie looked up at Lizzy, her eyes wide and blue, "I saw the witch," Natalie explained, "I saw the witch, and she looked like you, but with longer hair."

Lizzy thought for a moment. She remembered the dirty footprints on the ground, and the stories Natalie was told.

"You mean the witch your mom told you about?" she asked after a few beats, "the witch who stole away daddy? That story?" Natalie nodded. "Well you know that isn't true. I am not a witch Natalie, and if I was, then I would be a good witch and I would use my magic to protect you. You understand that, don't you? I would never hurt or frighten you. Whatever that thing was tonight, it wasn't me."

Natalie sighed in a resigned, almost adult-like manner, "I know," she said, "Fred likes you so I should as well. He knows bad people, and you aren't bad."

Lizzy felt her face heating up and her heart picking up pace, "does he ever speak about me? What does he say?"

Natalie shrugged.

"Well, he says I'm good, right? Does he ever tell you about when we were children together?" (Well technically Fred wasn't a child, but he acted like one most of the time.)

"He didn't ever say you were friends," said Natalie, sounding surprised, "I never knew that. He just said that you were good. Like daddy is good. But that's it."

"Oh," said Lizzy, her face turning pale again and her heart dropping, "oh, well...ok."

They sat very still, and after a few more minutes, Natalie fell fast asleep in Lizzy's arms.

Lizzy looked over to the clock again. 12:07. The witching hour had already begun.

xxXXxx

Polly had just finished shivering in her shower when the telephone rang, making her jump again. I took a few minutes for her to regain the courage to leave the bathroom and to answer it.

"H-hello?" she spoke into it, dripping wet water all over her cream carpet. She was half afraid she would hear the children on the phone, like that Jap horror film '7 Days' or '7 Weeks' or whatever the hell it was called.

Instead it was just the nerdy voice of her ex-husband that replied, "Polly, Polly? Are you alright?"

Polly sighed, "yes I'm fine Nigel," she always felt frustrated around her husband, "but something strange is happening here. Is it the same where you are?"

"It's starting to get weird. The strange paranormal happenings begun in New York, but now we're hearing more and more reports from all over the world." Polly turned the television back on and logged onto the news channel, "kids have been going missing all over the world for weeks. But we just didn't hear about a lot of it. As you know American news isn't very good about reporting anything non-american or-"

"Yes, yes Nigel, please leave your politics out of this..."

"Ahem, sorry, anyway, I was worried about you and Lizzy. Is she with you?"

"Of course not!"

"Alright no need to yell, Polly, Jesus! Look, the thing is, I kind of recognise some of these things."

"What? How? What are they?" Polly thought of the dead puppet children...she thought of Sarah.

"They're things out of myths, out of fairytales and children's stories. They...they are all things that we have heard bout before but thought were fantasy."

Polly sat down in her chair, memories of her unhappy childhood crashing to the forefront of her mind. "You can't be serious," she said faintly. On her mind's eye, she remembered being twelve years old, petulant and spiteful,. Picking on her younger sister for believing such silly things...

"I'm being deadly serious," Nigel interrupted her thoughts, though his voice seemed far away, "I know how this sounds and I know I seem crazy, but it's the truth. I'm coming over to you guys. I want you and Lizzy together with me."

"No!" she cried, "you've had nothing to do with Lizzy for years! You can't just come in now!"

"You wouldn't let me have anything to do with her! You ruined our relationship because you were jealous!"

"You could have found her afterwards! After she turned eighteen!"

"I don't want to fight," said Nigel tiredly after a long pause, "please, I'm worried. Do you remember Fred?"

"You could say that," she muttered, looking cautiously in her hallway to make sure none of the lights were off; they weren't, everything still looked ordinary. Nigel didn't know anything about Lizzy's recent break down, or of her new life, he knew nothing.

"Well, if some of these fantasy creatures are returning, then maybe so will imaginary friends, it makes sense, right?"

"Yeah," she shuddered, "yeah it does."

"Then maybe we need to be there. Fred used to cause a lot of trouble..."

"I know, I tried to stop it where all you did was laugh along! I'm sorry...look I don't want to fight either," she ground the words out bitterly, "something bad happened to me tonight and...and I do need someone here. I'll give you Lizzy's address. Get her and bring her here as soon as possible." Polly gulped as if literally swallowing her pride, "I don't want to be here alone..."

"No problem," said Nigel quietly, as if in shock, "I'll get there as soon as I can, ok? Keep calm and safe Polly, we're all coming."

She nodded, even though he wouldn't be able to see and hung up the phone. She stayed still for a few minutes until the cold became too much, reminding her too much of what happened earlier that evening, and so she huddled up in her blanket, still in nothing but a damp towel, and waited.

xxXXxx

Nigel was right. All over the world, old monsters that had haunted the pages of fairytales and had frightened small children in their beds, were now erupting out of the ground and destroying homes and lives. Children were vanishing on mass, being dragged in to their cupboards and wardrobes and under their beds; on the streets were monsters hiding in shadows, leaping out on unsuspecting victims. The emergency services were over-run; people were being rushed into hospital because they were losing blood from two bite marks in their necks; phone calls were being made to the police about the dead climbing out of their graves and biting people; animals were going crazy, dogs were trying to climb up trees and cats were turning black and attacking their owners. Mass hysteria built within a few hours and before long panic reigned on the streets of the earth, spreading from the cities and out into the countryside. Some tried to escape in their cars, but there was nowhere to run to. Most, like Lizzy and Mickey and Janey and Annabella, had turned their homes in to fortresses.

At midnight exactly, just as Natalie had suddenly woken up and Polly met Shade number six, Fred and all his kind were thrown into the world by the morally ambiguous, incestuous fertility god and goddess.

As they each landed in the city that Lizzy and Mickey lived in, each elf felt a powerful magic that had long been repressed in them break free. Excitedly, they began to zoom around the city, stealing sugar and milk ad shining things, all whilst laughing manically.

Free, free, they were finally free!

Often times, in modern stories, elves are merry and funny creatures, prone to giving out rewards and doing good deeds for kind people, but punishing the wicked. In truth, in the very, very old stories, Elves were vicious little demi-gods. They were spiteful and mean spirited and wild and out of control.

And, as Nigel correctly believed, it was these old stories, the old myths, that were true and that were unfolding.

As Fred arrived and felt all his old powers come back to him, so an old curse pushed itself forward full force. In a moment, Fred forgot completely all about Natalie and how he loved certain humans, and instead a devilish grin etched itself on to his features.

Elves are creatures of destruction, and there was much to ruin on the earth.

* * *

**A.N. Sorry, Fred and Lizzy will meet soon, I'm sorry it's taking so long ;_;**


	13. Reunion

**A.N. Thank you to Grieves for reviewing. :)**

**Everyone finally meets in this chapter.**

* * *

**Fair Folk**

They will not go gently into the night; they _are_ the night.

_Elves are wonderful__. __They provoke wonder__.  
Elves are marvelous. They cause marvels.  
Elves are fantastic. They create __fantasies__.  
Elves are glamorous. They project __glamour__.  
Elves are enchanting. They weave enchantment.  
Elves are terrific. They beget terror.  
The thing about words is that __meanings can twist just like a snake__, and if you want to find snakes, look behind words that have changed their meaning.  
No one ever said elves are __**nice**__.  
__Elves are __**bad**__._

— Terry Pratchett, _Lords and Ladies_

* * *

The morning was pale, the sky a uniform white cloud. It was very quiet.

Mickey sat on the couch staring at the television, even though all that was playing was white noise; the channels had all come off air hours ago. _"My ex-wife is probably dead."_ He thought, _"and it was my girlfriend who called her out and put her in that danger to begin with. It's possibly the end of the world, and I'm stuck in a relationship that I don't think is real and my daughter and her imaginary friend is somehow all part of this crazy magic, only I can't work out why or how." _He remembered how she had floated in the air in Marianne's shop, and how she had revealed the necklace that apparently 'Fred' had given her, and that morning when he had sworn he had seen a red-headed man hiding under her bed. Had that actually bed Fred? Lizzy had thought so, and that terrifying thought of Fred being real bought up a whole world of difficulties for him. How much of the behaviour of the two most important ladies in his life had been from Fred and not them? Mickey had thought Lizzy crazy and wild when he had known her as a child and later on that date where she had thrown food around the restaurant; but she had always insisted that that was Fred and not her, and, in the last few months, he had seen that she wasn't the free spirit he'd expected, if anything her friend Janey was. And what of his daughter, was it Fred who kept her from speaking, was it him who was making her do all this stuff which he had thought was her just 'acting out because of his and Joanne's divorce'? Was Fred malevolent or benevolent? Should he be worried about Natalie?

All night Mickey had heard his neighbours screaming and shouting, he had heard growls and bumps and banging and things crawling around outside. In response he had switched off all the lights and kept the t.v. on mute. Nothing had even knocked on his door.

Just as he thought this heavy pounding was assaulted upon his front door along with yells of 'Lizzy, are you in there?'

Mickey grabbed his baseball bat and ran to the door. It took a little while pulling away the slabs of old wood he had nailed against it, but when he finally managed to open the door he saw Lizzy's parents waiting anxiously. Both looked pale and scared, and he could see why; outside looked terrible, half the houses were destroyed and everywhere looked deserted. It looked like something out of a post-apocalypse horror film.

He ushered them in quickly and sealed the door once again.

"Lizzy's upstairs," he informed them quickly, "with my daughter Natalie in bed. Ms Cronin, there is plenty of drinks and food in the kitchen, please help yourselves to some breakfast. I can wake up the girls."

He ran upstairs leaving Polly and Nigel alone. Usually Polly would have been offended at such treatment at someone else's home, but at that moment, she was just happy to be with other people and in a safe place; that night had been the most terrifying in all her life.

Upstairs, Lizzy and Natalie were already awake, Lizzy just didn't want to see Mickey straight away; she wasn't mad at him or anything, but she knew there would be tension because of what happened to Joanne. "I never should have called her," she thought.

Natalie was brushing her Barbie dolls hair and singing quietly. Getting rid of her dolls was probably the only thing Fred hadn't convinced Natalie to do. Lizzy herself was calling Janey.

The phone rang for a long time before, "he-hello?"

"Hi," Lizzy didn't recognise the voice on the other side, "this is Lizzy. Is Janey there?"

"Oh Lizzy, it's you," whispered the voice, "it's me, Annabella, you remember me?"

"Of course," said Lizzy, whispering as well now, and not adding that of course she would remember Annabella, as she was the home-wrecker that put the final nails in the coffin of her old marriage.

"Things are bad here Lizzy, me and Janey were so scared last night. Oh, she's asleep right now. We're taking it in turns to watch out for any nasties coming this way. We kept getting attacked last night. Half of our neighbours are now missing."

"Oh my god," gasped Lizzy, "look, if there is any way Mickey and I can help you, we will. Things aren't good here but they're not as bad as it is for you guys."

"Thanks Lizzy, if you could help us get out of here that would be amazing, I'm not sure how long we can last!"

"Lizzy," Mickey knocked on the door and peeked his head around, smiling at his daughter before looking over at his girlfriend with concerned eyes.

"I-I've gotta go," said Lizzy, "see you Anna, try to stay safe."

"I will, and thanks Lizzy, you're the nicest person I've known since meeting Janey. I'm sorry about before." Annabella promptly hung up.

Lizzy looked over at Mickey questioningly.

"It's your parents," he said, "they're here."

"You mean my mom, my dad hasn't been around for years."

"No, even he is here Lizzy, your mom has shown up with a guy and I swear it's your dad."

Lizzy gulped, not knowing what to think or how to feel. "O-ok," she finally stammered out, "come on Natalie, let's go downstairs."

Polly and Nigel where in the kitchen. Polly had made everyone sandwiches for breakfast and Nigel was sitting on the table redundantly, watching her (Polly decided that she was the chef and therefore she would be the saviour to make everyone sandwiches as Nigel was useless, Lizzy was probably a nervous wreck and her boyfriend what's-his-name was clearly a moron).

Lizzy patted her hair down nervously when she saw Nigel. He stood up and smiled, not sure if he should open his arms to hug her not; would she want to hug him, would she be angry with him?

Lizzy also stood not quite knowing what to do or how to react. In the end, after a few minutes of twisting her hands nervously she smiled and said, "hey."

"Hello," said Nigel, and this was enough for the ice to crack and for everyone to sit at the table. Polly put down the sandwiches and ordered Mickey to put the kettle on.

"Days like this everyone needs a warm comforting drink," she whispered and he nodded enthusiastically before going to do her will; Mickey was still a little bit scared of Ms Cronin.

"I've travelled through the night to get here," Nigel began, "I could see how bad things were getting and I wanted to make sure you were safe. I...I recognise the creatures that are attacking us right now. I know it sounds crazy but, as you know, I work as a university lecturer in medieval history. Well, in that subject I've learnt a lot about the various, ah, magical creatures that people really did believe in during that time period. The thin g is, these creatures match the description of many of the mythological monsters of medieval times."

"What," gaped Mickey, "so you mean like...fairies and dragons and that kind of thing?"

"Yes, there have been no dragons reported yet, but we've seen banshee's" Lizzy flashed back to the night before when she saw that monstrous snake-like creature screaming on the news, "we've had bogeymen and," he glanced at Polly who returned his look, "and incubi. For some reason these things seem to be becoming real and are attacking us on masse. Also, for weeks now children have been vanishing all over the earth. In old stories, it used to be elves and fairies that would steal children and occasionally handsome young men away, taking them to a magical world and keeping them there for years at a time, if not forever."

"This is crazy," said Lizzy sat last, "I mean, I've seen some weird stuff in my life, very, very, very weird stuff, but this, this is too much! I can't get my head around it!"

"The only reason you mother and I survived last night was because we adopted some of the old superstitions that people believed kept these monsters at bay."

Polly nodded, "we had to throw a ridiculous amount of salt out of the car windows to keep most of them away. We saw people shooting at the different monsters with guns, but that didn't achieve anything, it just annoyed them. If it wasn't salt then we had to fight them off with iron bars. Apparently iron repels a lot of them." She shrugged and sipped the tea Mickey had made her, as if she had commented on something as mundane as the weather.

"To be honest, I'm amazed that you three weren't attacked at all last night," Nigel commented, "especially as you have a child. She's probably one of the only ones left in the city."

Both Mickey and Lizzy immediately thought of the green necklace Natalie had under her jumper, but neither of them mentioned it. Instead Mickey said, "so what are we meant to do? We can't just sit here throwing salt at them when they do decide to attack."

"We need to find out why this is happening and attempt to stop it. I have a colleague in the city's university, who is an expert in ancient mythology, particularly western folklore, which is what I think we're dealing with, at the moment. I need to find and work with him to discover the truth. For now I just wanted to get you folks together. I think you should run to the countryside, somewhere far away from this chaos."

"The countryside isn't safe," said Polly, "and I think it would be more isolated. I think we should go with Nigel to find this professor."

"I agree with Ms Cronin," said Mickey, "there's nothing to gain from breaking us up again, and like she said, we're safer together than apart."

"And your daughter, would you take her into the city centre, to the hub of the chaos?"

Mickey looked from Nigel to Natalie. "I think she'll be safe...I just have a feeling that she's lucky and...and protected." Father and daughter smiled softly at each other as Nigel looked at Lizzy.

"What about you Lizzy, do you want to stay with me?"

"My friends are in the city," she looked up at them, "I would like to help them. Janey has been very good to me. They won't be a problem and I think one of them, Anna, has faced off against some of these creatures, so she might be able to give some extra details about them."

There was a pause, and Lizzy hoped she hadn't annoyed anyone by suggesting they help her friends.

"Ok," smiled Nigel, "I suppose we're all going together. We'll need to pack salt, as much iron as possible, and get into clothes that are not too bright, and that are easy to run in."

xxXXxx

Natalie was alone in her room. She didn't like feeling scared of it, and Fred had taught her that it was better to face her fears than to succumb to them. She insisted on wearing her dark green jumper, her jean dungarees and her red converse. It made her feel closer to Fred, who still hadn't returned to her. Feeling stupid, Natalie got on her knees and began to pray, "please Fred, please come back to me, I'll do anything you want. I'll even get rid of my dolls, if I have to, just come back to me."

Getting back up, she grabbed her small back pack and put a bag of salt and a bag of sugar in there. She had heard the man (Lizzy's father, she had been told) telling everyone that they needed to throw salt at the monsters, and so she decided to bring that and to bring some sugar, if the monsters didn't like salt, then maybe they did like sugar, and, as she had learned from Fred, there were surely some good monsters out there who deserved some sugar. Maybe there were even some animal monsters which she could tame, how cool would that be?

She looked at her closet and after a moment, bravely stuck her tongue out at it. _"Take that shadow witch!" _She thought triumphantly, before running out the room and down stairs to the adults, "_I'm not afraid of you!"_

Lizzy was outside staring at the ruin that was once her nice little neighbourhood. All the houses had been ruined, either smashed in windows or burned and some even looked trampled down, as if a giant had stomped over them. He had heard a lot of noise during the night, but she never knew the wreckage would be this bad.

They were the only people about. "Do you think everyone is dead?" she whispered to Mickey, who had come out to stand beside her.

"I don't know," he answered, "but I doubt it. I mean, if they were all dead, there'd be bodies everywhere, but there isn't. It's just empty."

"Quickly," said Nigel coming out of the house with Polly and Natalie in tow. "Get in to the car. I don't want us spending too much time out in the open. We need to be somewhere safe by dark."

They drove carefully, Nigel and Mickey in the front, Nigel driving and Mickey navigating, and Polly and Lizzy in the back with Natalie in the middle of them. Originally Polly was in the front with Nigel, but they had argued so much that in the end she was forced into the back seat. She huffed and stared out of the window at the desolation. She could see figures in houses, hiding away from the car.

"There are people out there," she said, "but everyone's hiding. Can't say I blame them."

"They don't know what to do," said Mickey, "all communication is down so no one is telling them what is in their best interests, and outside is full of monsters and destruction. I would still be hunkered down to, with Betsy and Natalie, if it weren't for you guys."

As they got further into the city, things got stranger. It was as if the wildlife had gone crazy. Tarmac roads and concrete were being broken apart where tree roots were bursting out of them. There were bushes growing in the middle of the street and flowers and grass growing up the tall buildings, turning them slowly into steep hillsides.

"Janey's apartment is here," Lizzy pointed to a particularly burnt and damaged building. The car stopped and the men unbuckled their seat belt regretfully. "It's alright, I can go alone, it'll be fine."

"No Lizzy," insisted Mickey, "I'd rather go with you."

"You need to stay with Natalie."

Mickey looked to the back seat and saw his daughter staring up at him; Lizzy was right, Natalie had to come first.

Lizzy walked into the building and began to run up the stairs. She felt better that no one was coming with her, because even though she was afraid, she had the feeling that they would have only slowed her down anyway.

She banged on Janey's door calling her name before it was ripped open by her best friend. The two women hugged.

"How did you get here?" asked Janey pulling Lizzy inside.

"It's a pretty long story," she laughed, "but in short I was driven down. Look, we are going to find a man who we think might be able to work out what's been going on here."

Lizzy had followed Janey into the kitchen, where Annabella was sitting in nothing but a tight t-shirt and a pair of knickers, eating a bowl of cereal.

"Hi Lizzy!" she called over, far too happily considering what had been going on the night before.

Lizzy smiled weakly before saying, "do you guys want to come with us?"

"Sure!" cried Anna, "I want to find out what happened to Sacha and the other kids. I want to clear my name! They think I did something to them."

"I'm in as well," grinned Janey ferociously, "you know me, never one to sit on the sidelines. I wanna get involved!"

"Great, then get some salt and let's go."

The women looked at each other and then Lizzy.

"Um...salt?"

xxXXxx

The car was terribly cramped and awkward with the additional two bodies, but everyone put up with it. Annabella had grinned like a shark when she saw Nigel; he looked kinda old and like he had a decent amount of money, but when she found out he was Lizzy's father, and that Lizzy's mom was with them, she thought it would be better to maybe not try anything on with him (yet).

They continued on at a slower pace than before, Nigel explaining his theory to their new team mates. Annabella was scornful, but had no ideas herself as to what they were. Janey on the other hand was deeply excited.

"Marianne says that there are many different worlds, and that they all live side by side," she babbled enthusiastically, making Mickey and Natalie smile, "she told me that these other-worlds had been intruding on ours recently and that was why the children were vanishing. Maybe that's why these creatures are here."

"Other worlds like what?" sighed Annabella, "you should know that my sister is a hokey bitch-"

"Language!" barked Polly, who was promptly ignored by Annabella.

" -who says any old nonsense. She was even like that when we were kids."

"She isn't a hokey bitch,-"

Language!"

"-Sorry Ms Cronin- she's intelligent and strong. I think she was telling the truth. I wish we knew where she was now."

"Wherever she is she's safe, trust me, I know my sister too well."

"Well whether it i different worlds or whether it isn't, it still stands that there are now many dangerous creatures in our world."

"Can you tell us about them Nigel?" asked Mickey. "So that we know what we're up against?"

"What's shadowy?" said Annabella suddenly, "it looks like tentacles made out of shadows. Those things stole the children I was with and dragged them away somewhere. What took them?"

"I'm unfamiliar with that," answered Nigel honestly. "But I know that in legends it was fairies and elves who stole children."

"I thought fairies and elves were good," said Mickey.

"Only in modern fairytales have we made them good. In the middle ages they were portrayed in a more morally ambiguous light, but the further back you go the more evil they are. In ancient times, people disliked the fairies. They were unkind tricksters, practical jokers that bought on illness and ruined crops. In fact, in parts of Britain, boys were dressed as girls until they were five years old because their parents were terrified that the evil fairies would steal them away. People would leave out sugar and milk on their doorsteps to placate them. In the bronze -age, elves were basically gods. They were oftentimes very cruel and unforgiving and demanded blood sacrifice. Even in the middle ages, people were afraid of elves and connected them and fairies to the devil."

"What do elves look like?" asked Lizzy, feeling sick with worry.

"Well, it's generally agreed on that they were good looking. They were usually quite tall, people began to draw them looking smaller and smaller as Christianity took hold and people stopped worshipping them. But in ancient times they were as big as people, if not a little larger. They are often described as being bright and fair. So we assume that most of them had fair skin and perhaps blond or red hair. But that was what many people of west northern Europe looked like, so maybe they were basing the elves features off themselves. In Victorian books they wear a lot of green because the elves and fairies were connected to nature and youth and fertility. They are often described as sprightly and highly active. But they aren't good. In old texts they are very cruel creatures. They are child-like in the worst way imaginable, they never grow up, they never mature and they never are responsible for their actions. It makes them spiteful and mean spirited. We need to avoid them at all costs."

Lizzy looked out of the window and gulped. Her father continued to talk, this time describing in text book detail the features of a banshee, but she couldn't concentrate. All she could think of was the person she knew who fit that description almost perfectly.

After twenty minutes of slow driving and listening the Nigel rant on about fairytale creatures, the car finally came to a halt and the intrepid team of odd bods climbed out of it.

They were in the centre of the city and it was _ruined_. Cars were flipped upside down. Bodies of humans lay scattered on the ground, many being torn apart and bloody. There were small fires here and there and the acrid stench of burning fat and oil. Not a single glass window was left un-smashed and not one building had been left alone and at peace. Everything had been torn apart and laid to waste.

"Oh my god," whispered Polly in horror.

"Where is your friend?" asked Janey, "are you sure we'll find him?"

"Yes," said Nigel, "I called him this last night. He and a few others are in the university. He said that they had managed to trap a few of the creatures. I understand if you guys want to turn back. The car still has enough petrol. Go take the child and go back."

They all looked at each other, evaluating whether or not it would be worth it.

"This place looks the worst because it's where the chaos first hit," said Anna at last, "soon all of America will look like this unless we do something about it."

"Damn straight!" grinned Janey and Mickey cheered.

Polly and Lizzy looked doubtful but stayed quiet, neither wanting to be alone. Lizzy looked down at Natalie who was sucking her thumb and looking frightened. Was this really the right thing to do? It seemed cruel to put a child in such a frightening situation, but maybe Annabella was right, the monsters still tried to come after Natalie in the suburbs, maybe there wasn't anywhere to hide.

"Well, well," crooned a leathery voice making them all jump, "what have we here?"

They began to move in closer together, looking around to see who the mysterious voice belonged to before a hideous woman came out from behind a broken down bus shelter. She was slightly too tall for a normal human, and had skin that was a greenish grey colour, and watery red eyes with yellow irises. She wore a black dress with a belt of skulls around her waist. Her back was crooked but she looked strong.

Her eyes focused on Natalie, "my, my a little elf child...I haven't seen one of these in a long time." she stepped out from behind the shlter and began to stalk towards them.

"She isn't an elf!" cried Mickey, his voice a curiously high pitch, "she's my daughter, she's a normal little girl."

"Maybe a changeling then," she said more to herself and than to Mickey, her mouth was drolling and the lifted her long nose to smell the air, "yes that is magic that I smell upon the girl, she must be an elf. But not just her," red eyes rolled towards Lizzy before Nigel screamed for them all to run.

They bolted suddenly, and before the witch could give chase a loud giggling of many creatures broke out and began to get closer.

Nigel and the others hid some distance away, knwoign they couldn't travel further without being seen and noticing that she wasn't chasing them.

"I heard them coming," he whispered, "that's why I said run."

"Heard what?" began Polly in frustration before green flashes of light appeared around the witch. When they finally stilled they turned into young men and women, all of whom were quite pretty, and all wearing green clothes and red shoes or boots.

"What do you want?" growled the witch, "I nearly could have had some supper then!"

"Who are you?" laughed an elf girl with blonde hair and knee high red boots with a green miniskirt.

"I am a follower of Yaga Baba," said the witch proudly, "one of the sisterhood."

"We don't like witches," said a boy elf who had jet black hair and tanned skin (much to Nigel's surprise), "you guys try to take our Mistress and Masters role."

"That's right Titus," crooned the girl, grinning and showing off some razor sharp teeth "we should get rid of her for them."

"No!" cried the witch, but the elves fell upon her, snarling and biting. There were sounds of ripping and blood began to pour out of the fallen body.

"Let's go," whimpered Lizzy, trying to pull Natalie away, "come on, please, let's go, while they're busy."

The gang did so, keeping close to the ground until the sounds of giggling, snarling and eating faded away. When far away enough, they began to run.

xxXXxx

"It's not much further now," said Mickey to the others. "The university is literally ten minutes away..."

The group stopped walking and stared. The roads had been empty for some time, but up ahead was an upturned car which was spinning slowly as something ripped it apart from the inside out.

"Should we go back?" whispered Lizzy.

"No, we're too close to the university," complained Janey.

Even though the car was a few yards away and they had been whispering, the thing inside heard them, and lifted its head out of a hole it had ripped in the vehicle.

"Oh god," groaned Polly, "it's one of those things...oh god!"

Indeed, looking down at them was a red headed, green clothed male.

"It's Fred." Said Lizzy, "it's Fred!"

"what, you mean your imaginary friend?" cried Mickey, feeling horrified for a few reasons. As he shouted at his girlfriend, Natalie suddenly began to run towards the car, making the others shout in fear and chase after her.

"Fred!" called Natalie, her heart swelling with joy, "Fred!"

"_Something's wrong,"_ thought Lizzy, chasing after the little girl. She knew Fred, she knew that when he was happy to see someone he would run up to them and greet them happily. This Fred was simply staring at them, his blue eyes blank of any feeling and even, by the look of it, any thought (not that Fred had ever been a deep thinker.)

Mickey nabbed Natalie, just in front of the car. The others stopped and starred upwards.

Fred, slowly, climbed up out of the car and back flipped effortlessly onto the ground. He stared at Natalie with heavy lidded eyes before finally asking in that same raspy voice and the same English accent, "who are you?"

Natalie's eyes filled with tears, "It's me," she said, "Nit-Face. Natalie. Remember?"

Fred cocked his head to one side and Lizzy noted how his clothes were covered in blood and oil. Fred suddenly smiled, but it seemed cold and spiteful.

"I don't," he said cheerfully, "but I do like children." He grabbed her effortlessly out of her father's hands and held her up, "you can come with me to Alfheimer," he said and began to walk away until Lizzy shouted:

"Fred, no!"

The elf turned and faced her, his eyes dead and cold once more.

"Don't say 'no' to me, you _adult_," he said, "no one tells me 'no', if you tell me that I will purposely do the opposite of what you told me too. I do whatever I want. Especially now." He blinked, "how do you know my name?"

"Because we are friends," she said shakily, feeling her eyes welling up like how Natalie's had done. "You looked after me when I was small. You took care of me and we had fun together."

"You...came to me...to my land...?"

"No, you always stayed with me. You never forced me to go anywhere with you. And then, when I was all grown up, you went and looked after Natalie, the little girl you have in your hands now who is scared of you."

"Children aren't scared of me!" he bit out, hugging Natalie closer to himself.

"No, I never used to be, but I am now. Please, Fred, please remember who you are."

Fred stood still for a long time, before looking back down at Natalie his eyes softening, "I remember...I remember us throwing mud at that old man's house, and us trapping your nasty baby sitter, and I remember us tricking your mom into eating that mud pie."

Natalie suddenly grinned and Fred returned it, this one being real, "I remember! I remember Nit-face, oh I'm sorry, are you ok?"

He hugged her tightly as she sobbed into his shoulder.

Lizzy touched his shoulder, "you do remember now?"

"I remember Nit-Face, and I know you are her father's girlfriend. But that's it, I don't remember looking after you, or anything like that." He watched her crest-fallen expression, "um, sorry," he added, uncertain of how to talk to an adult, before refocusing his attention back on to his special little girl, Nit-Face.


	14. Memory

**Last time:** Polly received a phone call from her estranged ex-husband Nigel. Nigel explained that he recognised the creatures appearing in America and knew of someone who might know what was happening. He and Polly put their differences aside and went to collect Lizzy, Mickey and Natalie. Annabella and Janey were later rescued by Lizzy. Together the group drove into the city. There is no sign of any people on the streets (though some were spotted hiding in homes.) The gang began to walk to the university, where Nigel's friend was waiting for them, but they were attacked by a witch who smelt 'elf' on Lizzy and Natalie. Before the witch could attack them, the elves (including Mina, the blonde haired elf, and Titus, the dark-skinned Roman child) appeared and tore the witch apart as punishment from Freyr and Freya for practising magic. The gang ran on, and bumped into Fred. Initially Fred is cold and even cruel, but after some pleading by Lizzy, he recognises Natalie and remembers his role as her imaginary friend. To Lizzy's horror, he does not remember her at all.

_**And now...**_

"Wait a minute," cried Janey, "this guy is Fred? _This_ guy? Seriously?" she looked about her wildly, "he looks...he looks like just a normal human! I thought he was some magical thing! Y'know, like a little gremlin or something!" She suddenly blushed as she remembered that day in the office when she had pushed him out on the wheelie chair. Had she been speaking to his lap? Oh god...

She turned to Lizzy, who was standing in stupefied by her own feelings of misery, "why didn't you tell me he was a man!" She shrieked.

Lizzy looked at her blankly. Janey shook her shoulders, "I spoke to his penis you dolt! Oh god, I'm embarrassed myself in front of your imaginary friend..."

"I am magical, for your information," smirked Fred, ignoring most of Janey's rant, "not 'imaginary.' I'm Drop Dead Fred, and I can do the sort of stuff you losers could only dream about!" He sniffed Natalie suddenly and added, "You smell funny Nit-Head."

"The scary old witch said that I was an elf," grinned the little girl in a clear, confident and loud voice. Mickey gaped, looking hurt and amazed at once. Natalie rarely spoke to him, and when she had it was quiet and reserved.

"That's weird, maybe it's because you're with me so much." Fred continued not noticing the wide-eyed adults around him, "ha-ha, I'm making you stink!"

"That means you stink too Fred!"

"I do and I don't care!"

"Ok, I'm done with this," Polly held up her hands in annoyance, "this _thing_ already ruined my daughter and ruined my life in so many ways I can't see how having him hear making stupid conversation with a small girl is going to make things better for us. Nigel, please just take us to your friend already!"

"Yeah sure," answered Nigel vaguely, staring at Fred in wonder, "please, Mr Fred, come with us."

Fred nodded, though he seemed a little put off by having Nigel speak directly to him. Holding Natalie close and trundled along behind the rest of the group, he and Natalie talking animatedly in a childish manner the entire time.

"It'll be useful having him with us," he murmured to Polly, who looked scandalised at her ex-husband inviting the creature. "We've seen what damage these elves can do, and that there are other monsters here like the witch. We've essentially got a tame elf on our side; I think it'd be best to keep him with us."

"I would hardly call him _tame_, but fine," she bit back, "however if a witch or any other thing comes for us, I'm literally going to throw him at them and run to save myself. He can survive on his own."She looked behind her to Lizzy, and then further back to Fred and Natalie at the rear. Her eyes narrowed as she looked back forward, "he's just what I expected, loud, annoying and obnoxious. He turned Lizzy away from me, _twice_!"

"You ruined the relationship yourself!" snarled Nigel.

"What would you know? You left! Fred undermined me, and so did you. I was always made to be the bad guy, when all I tried to do was my best. I didn't want her being weird."

"She wasn't..."

"Yes she was!" Polly hissed, "she was and don't deny it. That boy Mickey was her only real friend. Having Fred made her strange, he was a curse but everyone acts like he was a blessing. I can't stand it, it's like I'm the only sane person in a nut-house!"

Nigel disagreed with her, but decided to follow his old way of dealing with her by ignoring her ranting and keeping his mouth shut. Once Polly believed something it was very difficult, if not impossible to change her mind. As long as she wasn't going to get rid of Fred, Nigel could put up with her hatred of him.

Meanwhile, Mickey sidled up next to Lizzy, who was focusing her mournful gaze onto the ground.

"So...that's Fred huh?"

"Oh, yeah..."

"He's..." Mickey looked back at the red-head chattering away to his excitable child, "He's great with Natalie. She's not been like that with anyone for years...even me...she...she hasn't talked to me like that in years."

Lizzy, suddenly realising Mickey's feelings reached out and took his hand. "She loves you Mickey, no one will ever replace you as her dad. It's just, Fred is like her. He acts her age and he gets her humour in a way no adult could. That's all. But when she out-grows Fred, and she will, you'll still be there for her. Fred will go away eventually, but you're her constant."

Mickey squeezed her hand back in gratitude before continuing, "I'm surprised by him though. He isn't what I expected. I mean, I knew what he would look like because I saw him in the mirror that time, though-" he was going to add that he never expected Fred to be as good-looking as he was, but decided that would sound weird so instead said, "I always imagined Fred would be jolly. But he isn't friendly at all. I mean he's actually pretty hostile, I can't believe he was your childhood friend, you are so sweet."

Lizzy smiled, "I think maybe he said and did all the bad stuff I secretly thought about; it's like he indulged my angry side. I've told you before, that wildness about me you liked wasn't really me at all. It was Fred. He was sort of Ying to my Yang."

"And what about those other elves?" he pushed, looking increasingly concerned, "you saw what they did to that witch. Fred's one of those things! I dunno, you make him sound like a mischievous child, and I always bought that, but...but... I'm a little nervous around this guy Lizzy! I mean I don't want to say that I agree with your mother, but maybe she _did_ have a point. What if he is dangerous?" Mickey gulped, "what if he does try to steal Natalie away from me?"

"Fred's not evil," Lizzy said wearily, "he's just anti-social and weird. He doesn't like adults very much I don't think. He doesn't remember me and so look how he's talking to me now. I've never had that from him before. I mean we argued a lot, but I've never been dismissed by him. It hurts..." Mickey let go of her hand, causing her to look at him and notice that he looked angry and frustrated again. "What? What is it? What did I say wrong Mickey?"

"Lizzy, do you think your old friendship with a...a... _man-child,_ is as important as my daughter possibly being stolen, or liking a sociopath more than me?" He brushed a hand through his hair the stress of the relationship and the last couple of days bearing down upon him. "Jesus Lizzy, I care about you, I love you, I do, but you're so self-centred-"

"I didn't mean for it to come out that way!" she cried, "I didn't mean it like that. I was just...I was just sharing with you. I care about Natalie and I-"

"And yet you just brushed off my fears like they were nothing. Oh he isn't dangerous, he isn't evil? Have you noticed his clothes? He's covered in blood and dirt! Who knows what he was doing before you kicked his brain into remembering Natalie? He was also destroying that car a few minutes ago. What if there were people inside it? That means he could have hurt or killed them as well, just like how his friend ripped apart and ate that old lady back there!

"Yes I know she was a witch but it hardly makes it less frightening. But you just brush off that fear and start going on about how much you miss him and how much it hurts that he doesn't talk to you in the same way!" he paused before adding, "What kind of relationship did you two have anyway?"

"_Wha_t? Where is this coming from?" They stopped walking and Lizzy crossed her arms, "what are you accusing me of now?"

"Look at him Lizzy! When you used to talk about him, I always imagined him as this cute little hobbit thing with a mischievous grin, but that's not it at all. He's a grown adult, and he's..." Mickey blushed, feeling stupid for saying what he was thinking but deciding not to ignore it like before but to just say it, "and he's good looking, despite the goofy hair and clothes, you two met as adults, so maybe you like him as something more than an old childhood friend."

He looked at his small girlfriend to see her gaping at him in disgust. Shaking her head, Lizzy stormed ahead to join her mother and father. Mickey gulped and considered going after her but Janey suddenly tapped him on the back.

"We heard you both arguing," She said, Annabella at her side, "are you guys ok?"

Mickey nodded and forced a smile, "yeah, we're ok; I just don't think Lizzy is as invested in us as I am."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Yeah, me too..."

Annabella, seeing the Janey and Mickey staring at each other with mutual feelings of affection, smiled softly before running ahead to join the Cronins. Better leave them alone. It was a shame on Lizzy of course, as Annabella knew her husband had left her previously, but that led her to believe that maybe Lizzy didn't take care of her lovers well enough. Janey deserved someone kind of sweet-natured anyway.

At the furthest end of the line was Fred walking along side Natalie, the little girl allowing a skip in her step now and then. Despite the horrors she had witnessed and the destruction all around her, she now had Fred, and that made everything much better. She felt as if a terrible weight had been lifted from her and she could finally be happy again.

"Why are you smiling Fred?"

"Because I can hear that I am making people jealous with my amazingness," he said smirking, "but who cares. Where are we going?"

"To see some guy," she sighed, "I don't really know. Adults don't tell you much. But I got salt to scare the monsters and sugar to make the nice ones happy."

"Well done Nit-Head!" he cheered her.

"We're kinda far away from everyone else; shouldn't we go closer to them? Now they can see you, you can meet my dad! And Lizzy, she says you knew her when you were little!"

"I don't remember her," said Fred tonelessly, "I don't care. I like you Natalie. It's all about you. Let's keep away from them. All they do is argue and backstab each other anyway. "

"But they're nice!" she insisted.

"No adults are nice Nit-Head, not really."

"My dad is," she insisted, "and so is Lizzy."

"Well, if they are so nice why are they hurting each other's feelings now?"

Natalie looked behind her to see that they were no longer walking together, that Lizzy was walking with her mom, dad and the tall, blonde lady, but her father was now walking with Janey.

"Did they have an argument?"

"Yep," Fred said in a matter-of-fact tone, "but don't worry, we'll never argue. I never argue with children, children are too awesome."

Natalie took a hold of his hand and kissed it quickly, causing him to make disgusted noises, but Natalie just giggled. Ok, so her dad and Lizzy were fighting. Maybe Fred was right, parents just argued a lot. As long as they stayed together and she had Fred though...then none of that mattered.

"Fred," she began.

"Yeah...?"

"Why did you give me the necklace?"

"What necklace?"

She leaned forward and tugged out the dark emerald necklace to show him. Fred touched it curiously but as soon as his fingers brushed against the talisman, he hissed and pulled his fingers away. A strange look came over his face, making Natalie frown.

"Mmm, hmm, yep..." he said insensibly, "aaah...hmmm...I'm not sure why I gave that to you... Errr, it hasn't been playing up has it?"

"Some weird stuff happened. I flew up in the air. The wind picked me up. Some lady said it was the necklace's fault."

Fred was silent for a little while, a rare occurrence, but finally said, "Well, just keep it for now. Ok? Just keep it hidden. But don't worry; you'll be safe now that I'm here." He then sniggered for a little while in a disturbingly childish manner.

Natalie decided to drop the subject, her thoughts focused on trying to work out what exactly was going on. Adults were bad at telling kids the truth and for the first time, she wondered if Fred was as guilty as the rest of them for being secretive.

Would Fred do something that put her in danger?

She couldn't imagine that he would- at least not on purpose. The monster in her room had tried to take the necklace, but it had forced it away. Perhaps the necklace was protection?

This led her to another burning question.

"Fred? Why did you go away for so long?"

"When?"

"After you told me to put stuff in front of my closet, you disappeared for ages afterwards, where were you?"

Fred paused for a moment, trying to think back. He didn't have a good memory; his mind was fragmented and broken, but Natalie sounded so upset, and it made him sad to think he might have let her down by abandoning her, albeit temporarily.

He remembered standing with the others in Otherworld. He remembered that the skies were not blue- they were black. He remembered a cavern...and little pixies...he remembered stamping on them...he saw the Twins...as children and then as adults...the giant black throne with a white haired goddess upon it...

"Nerthus?" said Natalie suddenly, waking from his thoughts, "what's a Nerthus?"

"Did I say that?"

She nodded.

"Ah...well I don't know. Ignore me," he shook his head, "I'm sorry, it's too hard. I'll try to remember Nit-head, but right now I don't know."He looked around at the adults milling about him and the ruins of the city. "I don't really know why any of this is happening."

Natalie frowned at him. He seemed strange. It wasn't completely unusual for Fred to have blips of adult-like awareness, moments where he would see and talk to her as an adult would a child. But he always reverted back to type.

However, this time, before Fred could brush off his grown-up persona, the ground beneath them all began to tremble.

"Oh god!" shrieked Polly, "what now?!"

Annabella looked up and saw in an alleyway the writhing of black, oily, shadow-like tentacles. She let out a horrific scream that ripped her throat.

Fred suddenly laughed maniacally, the laugh tinged with fear and madness, "not 'oh god', more like _'oh goddess!'_"

* * *

**A.N.- A massive thank you to all the reviews and support I've received in the last few months. I'd also like to apologise for the lateness of the up-date. I was struggling with the story, and then, just as interest began to peak for it, I suddenly lost all inspiration. I knew what I wanted to write, but it wasn't coming out correctly. Anyway, I've re-read the story, re-read my initial plot ideas and watched the film again all to push myself into continuing the story. I hope you all liked it. Please review if you have any thoughts or theories, or pm me if you have any concerns or queries.**


	15. Old Friends

**A.N. A very talky chapter. Not much action I'm afraid. Fred's a twat at first but things improve. I apologise for any spelling/typing errors, feel free to point them out.**

* * *

The tentacles suddenly flew out of the alleyway, viciously beating each member of the group and sweeping them aside in its cruel attack.

Mickey and Janey fell to the side together. Janey, thinking quickly, grabbed a plank of wood beside her and began to run at the tentacles, roaring as she did.

Mickey sat on his ass gaping in amazement. She was like an Amazon...

Natalie and Fred had also fallen together, Fred hugging the child close to his chest and landing on his back so that she wouldn't get hurt. He stood up almost immediately, not even winded or sore, and immediately scanned the area for Natalie's step-mom.

Ah-ha! _There_ she was, hiding with the tall blonde woman behind a tipped-over car.

Lizzy and Annabella groaned in union, the pain of being hit by a massive tentacle and then hitting the ground hard throbbing through their small bodies. Lizzy looked to the side and saw Fred standing with Natalie in his arms. He was grinning and waving at her.

"Get down you idiot!" she shrieked in fear, "Fred hide, think of Natalie!"

Fred cocked his head to the side, looking confused for some stupid reason. Lizzy began to feel the old sensation of exasperation in her chest when one of the tentacles shot out straight towards Fred.

Lizzy screamed but her ex-friend simply leaped backwards onto higher round in an amazing display of agility. It was inhuman, in fact, at how high and how far back he had managed to leap, all without even looking at the tentacle.

Fred stopped staring at the dark haired woman (why had he been so concerned about her?) and instead looked at Natalie, who was sniffling into his yellow T-shirt.

"Hey don't worry," he smiled, "those things are easy-peasy to fight."

As the words left his mouth, one of the tentacles began to ripple horribly before bursting open. Hundreds of pale-faced shades crawled out of its remains, their mouths open in silent screams. Janey dropped the plank of wood and screamed in horror.

"Oh, they're worse!" he shouted before calling to the others, "quick, all of you, run! Follow me, follow me!"

He jumped down and began to run. The others joined him, though they were struggling to keep up his pace. Luckily the Shades were pretty slow.

Fred felt a spark of magic, and looked down to see the necklace around Natalie's neck beginning to glow.

Ah, yep, it was all coming back to him now...

The sky above them turned a deep black and the clouds became a dark shade of purple.

As they ran Annabella looked behind her, the dark shadows of children were still chasing them, but the children were slow and their bodies so distorted that often they fell.

The group kept running until Fred finally dived into a building that used to be a large car-parking space. It looked as if it had fallen into the ground due to an earthquake, but Fred slid into it. They followed him, panting hard. Polly nearly threw up but Nigel put a comforting arm around her.

"What were those things?" he asked Fred.

"Shades," Fred smiled, "they're called Shades."

Mickey ran up to Fred with his arms open. He was frowning and looked determined. "I want my daughter," he demanded.

Fred scowled and stepped away from the blond. Mickey gaped, "she-she's my daughter! Give her to me!"

"Why? I'm doing a good job of looking after her. A better job than you could."

Mickey began to turn red, making Fred smirk spitefully. He then stuck out his tongue and sneered, "too bad for you that I'm great! Natalie is safer with me. Not you. Me."

"You're an evil little creature!" growled Polly from the back of the group. She had gotten her breath back now. The rest of the group, including Lizzy, watched with wide eyes, not knowing what to make of the drama unfolding before them. "That's what you do isn't it? You steal people's children and turn them into monsters!"

Lizzy winced at that. So her mother was now calling her a monster...

"I don't steal anyone," said Fred in a matter-of-fact voice, "they _come_ to me. There's a difference. You're all so useless. It's embarrassing watching you all." He hugged Natalie closer to himself, not allowing her to wriggle away if she tried. "I watch you all cheating and lying and backstabbing, and then you tell children what to do and how to be good. You're the worst things in existence. Worse than the things out there." He looked at Nigel suddenly and said almost randomly, "Nerthus is coming. I remember now. Nerthus is coming."

"Who is Nerthus?" whimpered Annabella, suddenly feeling afraid of dorky-looking red-head.

"Mother Earth," breathed Janey.

"An ancient goddess," said Nigel at the same time. He looked at the rest of the gang, "she was not a nice goddess, by what we know of her."

"She isn't," confirmed Fred, "those Shades are children she has taken. They are all the lost souls that she trapped, like a spider traps flies in a web. We call them Shades because they are shadows of what they once were. Now Nerthus is back, she wants more."

Polly paled, remembering the Shades that had crawled into her home. The one called Sarah...

"More children?" asked Nigel, "but why?"

Fred shrugged and said like a grumpy child, "I don't know. I don't know _everything_." He glanced over at Mickey, who looked deflated. He whispered something in Natalie's ear before handing her over to her father. She hugged Mickey tightly and gave him a kiss, feeling bad for her father. She loved Fred but he was a meanie sometimes.

"You do want to be by me, don't you?" Mickey asked his daughter softly.

Natalie nodded, returning to her usual mute state. Mickey wanted to ask what Fred had said, but already knew she wouldn't tell him.

"Is there a way we can stop her?" Janey asked Fred, who rolled his eyes because he resented all the grown-ups talking to him.

"I don't know..."

"Fred, please, please _think_." Janey went to put her hand on his arm, but seeing him scowl thought better of it. So Fred didn't like being touched, ok she could deal with that, "I know you care about Natalie. Nerthus will hurt her. None of us want to see Natalie become a Shade."

Fred grinned at her, "actually, I already know Nit-Head won't become a Shade. I made sure."

"Really?"

"Yep."

"How?"

"Not telling!"

Janey smirked, understanding how to deal with this kind of nut-job, "I already know how!" she chimed.

"Do not!" Fred sounded offended and began to turn red.

"Do too."

"DO NOT!"

"Do-"

"Janey!" Lizzy suddenly interrupted them, recognising that Fred was going an ever deeper shade of red, "Janey, don't tease him." She walked over to her friend, smiling quickly at Fred who only scowled in return, "he can get quite violent!" she whispered in Janey's ear, "and that was back when he had some self control. This new Fred," she added with a gulp, "he is completely wild now. Don't aggravate him please!"

Janey nodded, remembering Lizzy's horror stories of Fred's fits of violent anger. She understood, by the stories she had been told and by observing Fred's behaviour now; Fred was essentially a toddler; a very badly behaved and potentially very dangerous toddler.

"I understand Fred," Lizzy smiled, before looking back at him, "you've been very clever little guy. You gave Natalie a necklace."

Mickey jolted, suddenly remembering the necklace around his daughter's neck.

"I'm guessing that necklace is the reason why Natalie is still safe. Am I right?"

Fred shrugged but was unable to resist a bit of an impressed, almost bashful smile, "yeah. You're right. That necklace was a present from me. I stole it. But it's not just for Nit-Head. Nerthus was stealing children. But I stole a whole bunch myself. To keep them safe, of course."

"Wait, you took kids as well?"

"Me and the others were real busy!" he shouted proudly. He looked over at Mickey at first talking confidently but getting more tangled in his thoughts as he went on. "I don't normally steal children." He began. "Well. I used to. I think. But I don't now. Someone told us to stop…hm…the…ah…the Seer. I think. The Seer said...well anyway, I did stop but now we all had to. Again. Start I mean." He pointed at her necklace, "they're all safe and sound. I just need a nice space to get a tree and then Nit-head will be safe too."

Polly rolled her eyes and turned to Nigel, "can you understand any of this gobbledy-gook?"

"FUCK YOU!" spat Fred with such a quick turn into temper it threw a lot of them into shock, "it's not gobbledy-gook you up-tight BITCH!"

Polly now looked like she was actually going to tear out Fred's throat with her bare teeth so Nigel quickly interjected, "is it safe outside now? The sooner we get the university the better."

Fred sighed, "walk, walk, walk, that's all you want to do old man."

"How far until we get there?" asked Annabella, ignoring Fred and placing her hands on her hips.

"Well, we're a little out of the way, but we should be there within half an hour."

Fred sniffed the air, "we need to hurry."

"Is it Nerthus?" Janey's voice was shaking slightly, so Mickey held her hand and smiled gently. She returned it, her heart melting slightly.

"Yes," Fred watched them with cold eyes, unconsciously seeking out Lizzy's feelings.

"Are there any spells you can perform to keep her away?" asked Nigel.

Fred shook his head, "I'm not strong enough." He paused and looked awkward, fighting with himself on how much he should reveal to them. "I think…I know things are going to get worse. A fight is on the way. Everyone is picking a side." He stopped there. The others weren't sure what to make of his comment, but the carefree elf looked so worried at that moment, it stirred fear and a sense of urgency into them again.

"Right," Nigel said, "we go again, but this time we stick closer together. We all need to have some iron with us as well." He walked up to the wreckage of a car and pulled a piece of it off.

"Whoever is without a weapon, get one now," he ordered, "I want the strongest of us to walk at the front and back of our group. Fred," he turned to the elf, "I know you are having problems with us, and I know you are keeping Natalie safe, but for the sake of her, will you please let us know if anything bad is coming our way?"

Fred shrugged, but then nodded. Natalie was still in Mickey's arms and he was aware that her father was not going to let her go. Fred felt at a loss without her.

As the others grabbed bits of metal, he looked over at the dark haired woman. She was pretty. And very sad. He wasn't surprised, the man she was betrothed to was falling in love with another woman and not even hiding it. Fred had a feeling that something like this had happened to the dark haired woman before. It was strange, but he almost felt protective of her.

Without thinking, he walked slowly over to her, a creepy smile working its way on to his face. She didn't notice him at first, she was too busy observing Natalie, Mickey and Janey all giggling together. She felt left out. Before, she had always been the centre of Fred's world. Now she didn't belong in anyone's. It was ridiculous. She felt jealous of her father as mother was now focusing on him; Janey and her amazing free coolness was getting attention from Mickey and Natalie; and Fred was focused on Natalie. It was embarrassing to be jealous of your best friend, your father and even a little girl. It was pathetic.

Tears stung her eyes and she turned around only to walk into a thin chest.

She looked up to see a slightly predatory Fred grinning down at her.

"So, you used to know me?" Fred chirped. He sniffed at her hair softly, making her recoil.

"We were friends," she said quietly, twiddling with the ends of her hair. She had begun to grow it out of its bob, but recently had come to regret it. "You used to look after me when I was a little girl."

"We're off!" called Nigel, and the group began to follow after him like a team of loyal vagabonds.

Only Annabelle stopped to look back, and noticed Fred and Lizzy walking together. Her eyebrows knotted together slightly, but then she shrugged and went to walk with Nigel and Polly.

Fred watched Mickey holding Natalie and grit his teeth together. Lizzy smirked slightly at the action, "you never liked Mickey."

Fred pulled his gaze from Natalie and focused on Lizzy, making her smile a little more. "How long have you known me?"

"A long time, Mickey and I were friends as children. You were so mean to him, you never liked him when he was a boy and then later, when we were grown up, you didn't like him then either. I've never known why. You always seemed fine with Janey."

Fred looked back up, "I don't like to _share_," he said in a surly tone, "and besides, he's a dork."

"He's a dork?" she exclaimed, still grinning, "no way. The only dork here is you!"

"Am not!" he cried, gasping at her in horror and sudden anger.

Lizzy at once began to giggle. Fred watched her and slowly began to laugh himself, despite originally honestly wanting to slap her face off. Literally.

He unconsciously touched his hair. The smile slid away and he told her quite seriously, "the thing is…the thing is that adults like him," he gestured at Mickey, "they're weak. Those who are weak lose their young. It's how it works."

Lizzy frowned at him. He didn't sound his usual self. She knew from past experience that Fred could be serious at times, but this was odd. His words felt strange and ominous to her.

"Fred, Mickey is a good father," she said at length, "I can promise you that."

They were getting further and further away from the main group, as they marched forwards with an aim, Fred and Lizzy ambled along lazily. Lizzy figured she'd be safe with Fred, and honestly, she was just glad to be away from her family and close once more with the one truest friend she'd ever had.

"No," he said, still twiddling with the back of his hair, "he loves her. There's a difference. Love isn't enough to make someone a good parent."

"Of course love is enough, I mean, I understand that a child needs physical things as well, such as food, but if a parent loves a child they provide that child with everything they need. Parents who love give whatever they can for their child. They fight for their child."

"Not necessarily," Fred said almost snootily, "nearly all parents love their children, but it doesn't stop that parent from being a coward or a bully or susceptible to negative outside people or things. A drug addict may love their child, but their weakness means they cannot break the cycle of their dependency. So they lose their children."

He shrugged and let go of his hair. Lizzy gaped in response, not so much because of what Fred said but how he said it.

"What's happening to you?"

"What do you mean?" he sneered.

Lizzy shook her head, "I don't know. Since becoming an adult I've ceased to understand you at all! In fact, I didn't always get you as a little girl either."

"Oh girls don't understand anything." He said this as if it were a perfectly reasonable explanation. "Plus, I'm an enigma," he smiled, eyes growing wide, "I'm a well of mystery and wisdom. Everyone should bow to me."

"Perhaps Natalie made you smarter," she pondered, ignoring his nonsense, "your clothes are slightly different, and I think your hair is longer. Maybe she made you smarter as well."

"Maybe you just underestimated me. The fact that I don't remember you must mean you were horribly dull. Maybe we had nothing to talk about."

"We talked a lot as children," she replied hotly, feeling very hurt, "but when I grew up we mostly argued." She glanced up at him again and noticed something.

"What's that in the back of your hair?"

"What?" he began to brush his hand through red strands anxiously, "nothing! I don't know! Is it a dead bee or something?"

"What, why would it be that? No!" She stopped walking and touched his hair tentatively. It was thick, coarse and rough, almost giving her the urge to shampoo and condition it for him. It was a pretty colour, all the autumn themes of reds, reddish browns and golds all woven in together to make a symphony of diabolically red hair. She felt him seize up slightly at the softness of her touch against his neck and scalp. He really didn't like being touched. But he had hugged her at one time…

"Your hair is white," she muttered, touching the patch at the bottom of his skull. "Like you've had a horrible fright or something." She fought the urge to hug him from behind.

He turned to face her. "I don't get frightened," he said unconvincingly. He touched his hair absent-mindedly, "I think I was hurt once…long ago…"

He turned around and continued after the group, who were now quite far off in the distance.

Lizzy felt her face paling as the blood drained away. Fred had been hurt, when? And by who?

* * *

**A.N. I don't like Mickey much from the film. I won't go into why, but I don't. I hope this doesn't affect the story too much, because I'd hate for my personal dislike of him to colour the story. Mickey _is_ a good guy and I like to be fair.**

** I hope people like the characterisation, especially as I'm not portraying Lizzy and Fred in the best light. But I like to believe that this is sort of how they are. They aren't always very nice to one another, and personally I always liked that Lizzy felt that she could stand up and argue with Fred when she never had that confidence with anyone else (including Janey and Mickey.) I think that says a lot for their friendship, that they can argue but still get on with it and stay close to one another. Perhaps that's why people like them as a romantic pairing (despite the squikiness of him knowing her as a small child), because they are clearly so comfortable with one another. **

**As for the other characters, I like to think they are all under stress. So people react differently. I like Nigel, who was pretty useless, to step up and be a leader. I imagine that Mickey and Annabella are more followers. I think Janey would do her own thing, lol.**

**God, it's taking them forever to get to that university...**


	16. Alfheimer

**A.N.- A short chapter, back in Fred/Fride's past. Thank you for the reviews guys! :)**

**Last time: **_Young Fridurick was murdered by his tribe for an error against their village's fertility goddess. Before his last breath he is dragged to a different world. There he is told that he is to be the toy/slave of Freyr and Freyja, two young gods who are twins. They take him to Alfheimer where they give him magic and use him to steal away more human children. Fride soon grows tired of it all and wants to return home. However they cast a spell on him which traps him in a childish mind and makes him forgetful._

**Alfheimer**

Mina, Titus and Fride stood looking over the vast fields full of little green-clad elves. The Twins had just returned from another outing in Middle Realm and had bought along with them four children in all. As usual Mina, Titus and Fride were being left as their unofficial guardians.

"They're so cute," smiled Mina.

"But so small," finished Titus, "have you guys noticed that? They're so little compared to us."

"But we used to be that small," said Mina, "I think. Didn't we?"

"We were never that small," he answered, "how could we be?"

Fride frowned, "they are small because they're children."

"But I'm a child as well and I am not so small!" Titus cried, causing Mina to give him a strange look. For the first time in many decades, clarity showed on her features.

"But you are not a child," she said, "neither is Fride." She looked down at herself and noticed burgeoning breasts and that her hips had begun to widen, "oh gosh…neither am I!"

"We're grown ups?" spluttered Titus, "since when?" he turned to Fride, "you collected me, just a few hours ago. How has this happened?"

"I don't remember collecting you from anywhere," muttered Fride in a surly matter, "I don't know what you're on about…"

"I was supposed to get back to my parents!"

"Me too!" cried Mina, "oh god, my mommy and daddy!"

"Be quiet!" Fride barked, feeling panic rising, "it's alright. I'm sure there's some explanation. We'll ask later. Let's go join in hide and seek for now."He didn't really want to play at all, but he didn't want The Terrible Twins hearing any of them complaining or talking about going back home. The Twins were not very nice when they got angry and for all the elves they had acquired in Alfheimer, fried had noticed that some of the less controllable ones had disappeared at some point. He did not raise his fears with anyone, but kept the knowledge close to his chest.

"I don't want to play hide and seek," sighed Titus, "I'm tired of that game! We've been playing that and all the other games a thousand times today! Aren't you tired of playing Fride? You've been here longer than us." Titus sat down on the grass, looking tired, "gods I want to go to bed," he muttered, "I want darkness and bed and food and my parents…"

"I thought I was tired of games," Fride said quickly, ignoring Titus's later comments and focusing on his questions, "but I'm not now, and neither will you be if we play again. We'll get the Twins to join us."

"I don't want them to play with us," muttered Mina in a surly, childish tone, "they always cheat. Besides, how are you not bored?"

Fride shrugged, grinning at their desperation, "I don't know. Why do you two always think I know everything?"

"You don't know anything anymore," sneered Mina, looking at Fride in slight disgust, "you used to be the best, but now you're rubbish. You just do…" she paused and looked around nervously before hissing, "you just do whatever they want you too! You never think for yourself!"

"Everyone does what **they** want!" he answered hotly, shame colouring his face. "If you two are so brave, you go ask the Twins if you can go home."

Titus and Mina shot each other anxious looks, and at once the shame Fride felt turned into derisive merriment.

"Hah, see, can't do it can you? Serves you right!" he grinned nastily and hopped around them, pointing at them as he accused them, "you're two big scardey cats!"

"Am not!" shouted Titus. He stuck out his tongue before running down the hill towards the Great Tree. Mina, after a moment's thought, ran after him.

Fride was half tempted to chase after them, because a good run down the hill was always fun, and made up for the lack of space and lack of things to do in their little field of paradise. However, the dark fury of the Terrible Twins kept him quite still at the top of the hill, watching the tree with curious blue eyes.

He had noticed he was a lot taller and quite thin. Sometimes it felt as if he couldn't quite control his gangly limbs the way he used to. His body was increasingly becoming a stranger to him. He was also sure that he had mentioned this to the Twins, but he couldn't remember the outcome.

Besides he tended to avoid the Twins when he could now, choosing to spend time with the little elves. The Twins were a lot more touchy-feely, with him as well as each other, and that didn't sit too well with him. He tried telling them that he wasn't keen and that the whole thing made him feel a bit odd but they would just laugh at him. Apparently what they did was good for making the spring or some nonsense like that. He often had no idea what the Twins were babbling about.

Fride sat down, an action he rarely took, and focused on the tree. He was certain that there was a purpose to it all, a reason, a thing he was meant to do; a goal he was meant to achieve.

Mina's words haunted him. "I don't do whatever they say," he muttered to himself bitterly, "I'm Fride, I do whatever I like…" But the words felt hollow even to him, and were further undermined by the fact that he whispered them with a fast beating heart, frightened all the while that the Terrible Twins would hear him.

Above him the sky turned pale, almost white, as if overcast. A cold chill fell upon the land. Fride shivered, aware that someone was casting a dark spell. Below him the many children looked about themselves, all confused as to what was happening.

Fride stood up, worried for Titus and Mina. He shouldn't have teased them like that, What if they were hurt? The Terrible Twins had never, as far as he knew, hurt anyone, but they were gods and were keen for everyone to remember that. The threat of violence for insubordination was never far off.

Why had he bullied them? He didn't understand himself, why was he so nasty sometimes? It wasn't him, he knew it wasn't. He didn't like being a bully, or playing pranks or pushing the others around, but he still found himself doing it. It was a s if deep inside his chest he would start getting these feelings, these unpleasant emotions that confused him. Doing nasty things to others was the only way he could alleviate those feelings, but still, afterwards he would feel terribly guilty about it.

"I'm not bad," he muttered, suddenly feeling tearful, "but I always make bad things happen…" He couldn't think of any examples then and there, but he was certain his statement was true.

Just then, the coldness snapped and everything returned to normal. He looked about, thrown a little by the change. The children below began to play once more, instantly forgetting the darkness that had been so oppressive just moments before.

His heart skipped a beat and he let out a relived sigh as he saw young Titus and Mina running out of the tree house. They instantly joined in a game with some of the young elves, laughing and falling about.

His relief quickly turned to suspicion. What had the Twins told them that had eliminated their worries so quickly?

Fride gritted his teeth. He wasn't stupid. He rubbed his hand against his forehead. His own mind was a traitor to him.

"Think," he muttered, "_think_!"

He pushed his mind to the brink, forcing it back through so many games and so many trips to the Middle Realm, through all the abductions. He remembered the white goddess and how she scared him. But anything before that was a haze. The most he got was the face of a small girl. A girl with blue eyes and dark hair.

"_She isn't here,"_ he thought, _"she isn't one of the elves. Is she something else_?" He bought his hand away from his head and wondered solemnly_, "did I have a mother and father?"_

The White haired goddess flashed in his mind again. That's right, she was the mother of the Terrible Twins! If anyone would know what was going on, it would be her.

"_Should I go to her?"_ he wondered. The thought of the goddess bought with it a pang of fear within his young heart. Mina's taunt flashed through his mind again, which hardened his resolve. He would go to this goddess, and he would find out the truth!


	17. Home of the Dark Elves

**Svartalfarheimer**

Fride didn't have much of a plan. Fride rarely planned anything. His mind no longer worked in the way that he _could_ plan. It took just about everything he had to make a conscious decision and to act on it. At once, Fride began to run in the opposite direction of the tree. It was like instinct telling him where he was supposed to go; and what is instinct other than a distant memory learnt by our ancestors? Only in Frides case, he was his own ancestor.

He ran and ran, feeling his heart racing, feeling the pure joy and freedom of running. Around him the green blur of grass flashed past him. Fride was going so fast in fact, that he very nearly threw himself off the edge of Alfheimer and into the endless abyss of the universe.

As it was, seeing the blue skies vanishing into the endless starry universe, Fride managed to skid to a halt just in time. A few blades of grass were pushed off the edge by his sliding feet. Heart still racing, he looked over the thin edge. The blades of grass fell for a while, but then began to float. He watched as they drifted off into the endlessness, doubtless to continue aimless drifting for all eternity.

"_That could have been me,"_ he thought with no small amount of fear. He leaned over a little further, looking underneath the rock. Sure enough he could see another world beneath their own. A world of white mist and ice.

He stood up straight and took a deep breath before putting out one foot and taking a large step. The world tilted and Fride stood on the otherside. He looked around him. Unlike Alfheimer this land was desolate and quiet. He shuddered and pulled his emerald jacket closer around his thin body. Between the white hills and mountains he could see things hiding in the shadows. He felt their eyes upon him. There was a feeling of hostility.

Fride began to giggle nervously.

"A giggling fool in my land," said a cold voice, "must be one of Freyr's and Freya's little pets."

Fride turned around quickly to see a young boy standing behind him; only this was no ordinary boy. His hair and eyes were pure black, but his skin was pale white. His lips were vaguely blue. Where his forehead met the thin hairs of his head the skin was turning purple.

Fride gagged; the boy was a standing corpse.

The boy raised what should have been arms, but instead were black octopus legs. He opened his mouth as if to scream, but the voice from before came out.

"What do you want with me? Follow my Shade and come to my Court."

Fride followed the boy with wide eyes and a shaking body. He was very frightened by death, and here it was in all its gory glory. He felt like being sick, but terror prevented him from throwing up.

The Shade led him to a cavern. Outside blue lights whizzed around at amazing speed, catching Fride's attention and making him grin. He tried to grab one so that he could take a closer look, but they seemed to want to avoid him and flew away. It seemed that they were afraid of him, and he felt sorry for that.

Inside the cavern was dark. A few white torches decorated with intricate carving stood at the jagged rock sides each with a flickering flame of blue and white.

As the cavern stretched out into a circle, there sat the White Haired goddess on her throne. All around her where the bodies of cold, blank eyed children.

"She must be Death," realised Fride with a shiver.

Her pale eyes, which had been staring out sightlessly in front of her, now turned and focused on him.

"Fridurick," she muttered, "I remember you. You're the heathen who burned my effigy."

Fride frowned, "no, my name is Fride," he said, feeling afraid to correct her but not wanting her to think he was someone bad. What kind of imbecile burned the effigy of a terrifying goddess?

A slight smirk appeared on her pale purple lips. "What is it that you want, _Fride_?"

Fride put his arms behind his back and stood up straight, like a soldier. "You are the mother of Freyr and Freyja, are you not?"

She nodded.

"Well, I was wondering about them and about me and about the other elves." He coughed nervously, feeling very small and stupid and deeply terrified. He had made a mistake coming to this place, but it was too late to turn back now. "Me and the other elves," he continued with feigned nonchalance, "we've started to notice that there is quite a lot of us and there isn't much space. On top of that we're all quite big and the other children are small. And then the others - not me- began to get all worried about parents and what not. I know it's silly but I thought I'd come check with you."

"Why not ask Lady Freyja or Lord Freyr?"

"Well, as lovely as your children are, they do not seem keen on telling us much. They just keep getting more of us even though there's no space"

"You seem angry with them."

"Angry?" he blinked, "I don't get angry."

The Goddess stood and slowly stepped down from her throne, touching the dank heads of her Shades as she did. "What is my name?" She asked, not bothering to answer his question.

Fride paled, "Uh…I…I'm not sure…" He put his hand on his head, "I know that you are the mother of the Twins and very powerful." His voice began to shake. He was frightened of this goddess. What if she turned him into a Shade for not remembering her name?

"Your people called me Nerthus," she said quietly, turned away from him, "I was the goddess who gave you Spring. I made sure your crops grew and your babies were healthy."

She turned and faced him. Her expression was still and cold, but Fred detected the sadness within her. "That is all gone now. My followers are extinct. My religion is dead. What was left has been stolen by my children."

She sat down on her throne once more. "All that I have are my Shades. And I shall continue to collect Shades, for in my vexation I can take out my anger by stealing those who are not appreciated." She looked at him, "Middle Realm is changing. They worship new gods, these fashionable Eastern beings that have been twisted into being about love and forgiveness." She sneered. "All lies and nonsense. But we have been cast aside and if we are believed in at all, they only see us as demons. The Twins keep taking children because they are desperate. And you can never go home, despite the promise given to you."

"What promise?" asked Fride, his heart pounding hard, "and what do you mean by 'my people'? I thought you meant the elves, but you didn't, did you? What am I?"

"You were a boy," she answered, "and you had a home on Middle Realm. I took you because of your insolence and because you were offered up to me. I said that you could return one day. You missed your sister most of all."

"I had a sister?" Fride said softly, feeling strange and light-headed.

"Yes. I swore that I would allow you back home when you became an adult, and that you would never be apart from your family."

Fride sunk to the floor, not caring that it was cold and damp. He sat quite still, the stillest he had been in many years. His head felt odd, as if a thousand thoughts were buzzing around like bees, but he couldn't focus on a single one.

At last he was able to form a single sentence, "Am I from Middle Realm?"

"Yes," she answered quickly, "but you are a different creature now."

Fride shook his head, the old feeling of negative emotions begin to scorch through his soul again. "Then why don't I remember anything?" he barked it out like an accusation, "why am I in Alfheimer now?"

"I told you already!" she said sharply, "I took you! You were an insolent pup and I punished you appropriately and put the fear of Nerthus into your pathetic little tribe!"

Fride shrunk back, shivering a little at her raised voice. Her Shades whimpered, their faces sad and sunken.

Nerthus sighed deeply before continuing more calmly, "and as for your forgetting, that is because you are a fool. You were an ignorant little boy and they turned you into a stupid, smiling doll. That is your role in life; to serve the childish whims of my children."

Fride sat quietly for a moment. He looked at the Shades. Was it true, was he really no different to them, a lost human child turned into a toy? Were Freya and Freyr so cruel that they could do that to someone? He remembered back to when Titus and Mina had gone down to question the Twins. He remembered the darkened sky and the smell of dark magic. He thought about how terrible they could be. The pranks they would play on their elves and the way they stole little boys and girls. Fride had laughed with them at the time, not realising that they were laughing at him as well.

Tears welled up in his eyes.

"C-can I go home?" he asked tentatively, "please, will you send me back?"

"You want to return?" she asked, glancing at him again, "do you really want to return to Middle Realm?"

"I want to see my family," he stood up and wiped away the tears that had fallen. Fride didn't understand everything that was being said, or even his own feelings, but on discovering that he didn't have to stay at Alfheimer, he suddenly realised that he really didn't want to. He wanted to leave; he wanted to go home. He sniffed loudly, making her curl her lip.

"Well," she said quietly, "I did promise you that I would let you back, and I did promise you that you would never be apart from them, so very well. Will you say goodbye to the Twins and the Elves?"

Fride shook his head, deciding without thinking.

"If anyone asks you who sent you," she said, "tell them that Queen Mab did."

"Queen Mab? Is that your name?"

"It's what they call me," she muttered, raising her hand and whispering a spell in a language Fride did not know. Behind him a blue light shone out and wind bellowed about the cave. The Shades watched, entranced, at the rip Mab had caused in space.

"Go through there," she said, "it is a portal to Middle Realm."

He nodded and without a second's thought, leapt through.

* * *

**A.N.- I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who has reviewed. I'm really happy, you guys make my day. I know that the story is slow and it took a long time for Fred and Lizzy to meet, so thank you all for your patience and sticking with me.**

**Anyone who knows anything about Norse mythology knows that I am playing fast and loose with the original source material. Svartalfheimer is, basically, 'home of the dark elves' but can be translated as meaning different things. Alfheimer is home of the elves, and specifically the 'light elves' in this story.**

**I'll talk more about 'Mab' in future chapters, but yes, she is Nerthus, she's just renamed herself! It's often the way with old religions, they rarely vanish altogether, but they get re-named or have their titles changed. Lots of fairies were originally gods of the old pagans. Even modern religions have roots in much older ones. For example the Christian god Yahweh can be traced back to an old Babylonian Bull God called El (it's where biblical terms like Bethel (meaning 'home of El') come from, and why in the old testament the Israelites kept putting up images of Calves or Bulls whenever they 'turned away' from god- it was them returning to the old ways.) **


	18. Best friends

**A.N. Holy Cow I forgot to upload this guys, I'm so sorry! I thought I had!**

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**Last time: **Everyone is living their normal lives when Fred suddenly bursts from his own world into reality and gives Natalie (aka Nit Face) a green necklace. Suddenly things start going wrong; an Octopus like creature begins to steal away young children. At first no one notices. But then the city where Mickey, Lizzy and Natalie live is attacked. Monsters and magical creatures flood the world, causing chaos. In the midst of the craziness Micky and Lizzy are coming to terms individually that they are not happy in their relationship, which was founded on false expectations.

The morning after the big disaster, various people pull together. Lizzy's parents, Janey and even Annabella all end up together with Mickey and Natalie. They all decide to go to a University in town where experts on mythology reside. As they make their way through the destruction, they come across a highly aggressive Fred suffering with amnesia. Natalie calms him down so much that he remembers her, but Lizzy is someone he has no recollection of, and he dislikes all adults.

As the group continue their perilous journey, Lizzy begins to feel more isolated, especially now that Fred isn't in her corner.

**And now...**

"They must be coming from a parallel universe," Janey explained excitedly to an entranced Mickey, "the Vikings used to believe that there were nine different worlds. They believed that Earth was in the middle."

"Kind of like Lord of the Rings?" Asked Mickey, "you know, where they call where they live Middle Earth?"

"Yeah, that's my point exactly," she smiled, glad to have found another Lord of the Rings film fan, "so now it's been safely established that it's all true, then maybe the existence of nine different realms is true as well. My friends, Maryanne, she's a pagan sister and leader of a spiritual group I attend. She said that other forces were trying to force themselves into our world," she waved her arms around at the general destruction and debris, "undoubtedly they managed to come through."

"Janey this is amazing! I've never known anyone as smart as you!"

She shrugged, blushing slightly and smirking. She had never known any man who had thought she was smart before; most thought she was just weird and an easy lay. For months she had listened to Lizzy complain about this guy, about how he seemed kind of spineless and didn't seem to know her at all, but by what Janey could tell Mickey was the kindest and most innocent man she'd ever known. How could Lizzy not appreciate someone so amazing? Especially when she would defend monsters like Fred?

Janey turned back and watched Lizzy and Fred walking in the distance. They were far away from the group, which seemed a little dangerous. Lizzy was looking straight down at the ground whilst Fred was looking all around and walking quickly, as if he were a little boy with a bad case of un-medicated ADHD.

"What do you think about him?" Mickey asked anxiously noticing that she was watching Fred uneasily.

"I think you were brave to stand up to him," she smiled at Mickey, "Fred's a lot more…aggressive and intimidating than I expected. Lizzy is talking about a manic imaginary friend she had as a child and I immediately visualised him as a tiny Jim Henderson character."

Mickey laughed, disturbing Natalie who was asleep in his arms, "that's what I thought too! As a kid I always thought he'd be awesome, but now I'm not keen to be honest. I'm not sure about having him around my daughter."

"He can't always be this bad," she said reasonably, "I mean he did help Lizzy and he's never hurt Natalie. Even Lizzy seemed surprised, so this can't be a Fred she recognises."

"Maybe," he looked back at them, "but she seems pretty comfortable with him to me."

xxXXxx

"Fred?" Lizzy glanced at him then looked away, feeling embarrassed.

"Hm? What?"

"How much do you remember? I mean, you knew that the octopus monster is Nerthus. You also remember Natalie. So what else do you remember?"

"Not you."

"I know."

He brushed his hand through his hair, feeling a little bit mean for that last comment. It was a little unnecessary, but then he wasn't a very nice person. He didn't know why his unpleasantness kept being a surprise to him.

"You can't ask a big question like that," he said at last, "it's too much for me to think about. Memory is a big vast sea of darkness," he said, his mind's eye imagining the enormity of the universe. He could imagine the endless black speckled with stars. "Asking me what I do remember would be like me asking you to count the drops of water in the ocean."

Lizzy stared at him, her eyes wide. "But memory isn't like that," she said, "not for me. Especially considering that you cannot recall much I would have thought that what you would remember would be a few snippets which I could translate into a narrative or put into some sort of order. You sound old Fred-"

"I'm not old!"

"No," she smiled, un-offended, "I mean the way you just described your memory, it seems that you must be a very old creature or entity. I've always known you weren't human and me to believe that you were real, a tangible being and not something my mind just made up. But it's weird to think that you have been around since before I met you." She paused and thought for a while before continuing, "but it makes sense. Nerthus is an old, virtually unknown goddess. If you know of her then you must be old, like she is."

Fred frowned, "I knew what she was when she arrived. I knew her Shades once I saw them…but I didn't know what they were before that. I only knew Nit-Head and all the games we play together."

Lizzy took his hand, "Fred, if you remember anything it could help us find out what's going on. It will help Natalie. I need you to try."

Fred pulled his hand out of hers, curling his lip slightly.

Lizzy took in a deep breath. She had never imagined anything like this. Fred was a lot more complex than she initially thought. Privately as a young woman she'd worried that he was a part of her that had come to life. Later when he went to Natalie, therefore proving himself as an independent being, she thought that he was some sort of magical being created by and for children. The idea that he was an ancient being was shocking.

"Who made you?" she asked, deciding that smaller, direct questions may be easier, "and have you always worked with children?"

"I don't know," he frowned, "and I don't work for any humans. I work for the Gods."

He blinked, as if his own words had surprised him. Lizzy's mouth fell open before she stepped in front of him, stopping their progress again, "then why did you spend all that time with me, and then Natalie?"

"No idea. I suppose because I like children?" He sniffed her again, brushing his face close to hers and against her hair, making her flinch uncomfortably. "You work with children as well," he grinned as he pulled away, "I can smell them on you."

"I work in a nursery," she said, "I'm really worried about the children. They're only babies Fred," She took a hold of Fred's hand again without thinking. He glanced at their clasped hands but did not pull away this time. "What if that monster took the babies? What if they are Shades now? Is there any way to save Shades?"

Fred was silent for a while before continuing to walk and saying soberly, "I've never known any shades to be saved. There was only one person who could stop Nerthus before."

"Who was that?"

They stopped walking again and Fred looked around, suddenly shifty. "Don't tell anyone this," he hissed seriously, "not your stupid boyfriend, not your giggling friends, not your horrible parents. No one."

"I won't, I swear."

"The Seer could stop her. But the Seer is missing. I'm trying to find him. That's the one thing I_ do_ remember. It's the one goal I've been keeping in my mind all this time, even before thoughts of Nit-Head came crashing back into my poor little head. If I can find him, then we can stop all this."

With her free hand she brushed Fred's hair with the back of her hand. "You're more clever than you pretend to be Fred," she said almost admiringly. "There's some sort of plan in your brain isn't there?"

He grinned at her, feeling very happy, "there's _something_ going on up there, but I'm not sure what." He then looked at her quite seriously, blue eyes sincere, "you _are_ a friend, aren't you? I can trust you? I can…talk to you?"

She looked at him, her eyes noting the white hair just showing at the side of his head.

"Yes," she said firmly, "you can trust me Fred. I swear it."

He bit his lip anxiously, "I'm Nit-Head's bestest friend ever…but…maybe, you could be my best friend. Not bestest. But best."

"That sounds awesome, thank you Fred." She wrapped her arms around his stomach and hugged him tightly. He put up with it for a little while before pulling her away, muttering something about not wanting to catch cooties.


	19. The first sparks of affection

Leading the little group, Polly and Nigel waded through the mess of the city; now a jungle of twisted metal and hills of concrete slabs.

"Where is everyone?" Nigel muttered. "There should be more people about. I was expecting to see people out helping one another, like you do after a natural disaster."

"This isn't a natural disaster Nigel," sneered Polly in her You're-So-Stupid voice, "everyone is either dead, dying or hiding. I'd be hiding if it wasn't for you and Lizzy."

There was a pause before, "so how was Lizzy after I left?"

"Golden," she sniped, "I got rid of Fred and suddenly she was golden. She was never my special little girl; she's too stupid and ugly for that. But at least she did as she was told."

'_It must have been awful for Lizzy,'_ Nigel thought ruefully, desperately wishing he had fought harder for his daughter.

"You should have let her stay with me," he said, bitterness creeping into his voice, "you didn't love her anyway."

"Why should I have given her to you? You were a useless father."

"At least I loved her!"

"So did I!"

Nigel sighed and looked away. There were times when he swore his ex-wife was a sociopath.

Polly kept walking in silence. She could feel the waves of anger seeping out of Nigel. After all these years she still managed to do nothing more than frustrate and upset him. It was true that her relationship with Lizzy was a complicated one; both the terms love and hate could be used to sum up Polly's feelings for her child.

Polly had never wanted children. She had never even wanted to marry before she saw Nigel. He was her first and only love. She would behave differently for him; she would be coy, sweet and shy. They eventually got married and slowly but surely she revealed more of her true self to him. Polly had never been kind or friendly or popular with the other kids.

As an adult she found herself becoming exhausted pretending to be this smiling housewife, which just didn't suit her. In some mad way she had hoped that Nigel would accept her for whom she was; but the more she acted naturally, the further away he drew from her.

Having a child was the last ditch effort she could make. Perhaps having a baby would soften her. If nothing else it could convince Nigel to never leave. Lizzy would be a permanent tie between them.

But it didn't work. Instead Nigel was always happy with Lizzy, a horrible wailing monster child, and never happy with Polly. Lizzy had become a wall between them.

It was then that Polly began to resent Lizzy.

"Where did it all go wrong for you Polly?" Nigel said, snapping her out of her reverie.

She looked at him with a frown on her face, "what are you babbling on about now?"

"When did you become this person?" he looked at her with piercing eyes. She turned away. "When I first met you, you were this sweet young woman. Then you just turned. Was it me? Was it my fault?"

"Yes it was," she said, knowing that she was lying.

"What did I do wrong?"

"You never loved me."

He grabbed her shoulders and forced her to face him, "but I did love you!"

"Everyone is looking!" she bit out, pulling out of his grasp. She saw Mickey, Janey and Annabella staring at them. She threw a curt nasty smile their way and continued to walk.

"Not long now," she could hear Nigel telling them, false joviality in his voice, "five minutes tops, assuming no more debris gets in… ah!"

Polly whirled around quickly and saw that a massive bird had fallen upon her ex husband and was now pecking at him angrily. Nigel was on the floor, crying out in horror.

The rest of the group screamed out in horror before running towards him. All except Fred and Lizzy.

"Don't go near that thing!" he said quickly, holding her arm.

"But he's my father!"

Fred looked at her, big brown eyes, soft skin and dark hair. It stirred an emotion in him, something like familiarity, and it made him feel a little queasy and light headed.

"Just go to Nit Head, she's the one it's really after," he barked, before running towards the giant bird.

Fred ran very quickly, unnaturally so, easily passing the others and flying up the small hill that had Nigel and the giant bird on top of it.

Polly had thrown herself onto the bird screaming for it to leave Nigel alone. The bird opened its giant wings in response, throwing her off. It then jabbed at her one time with its powerful beak, just before it heard Fred calling out, "oh, you again?!"

It turned its head quickly, blinking in what almost looked like confusion when it first spotted Fred.

The green-clad man allowed himself a grin. "Remember me do you?" he said cheerfully, "I have what you want…"

The others watched as the great bird- which looked like a gigantic, black Eagle- veered itself up to its greatest height and shrieked at Fred. The shriek was so loud that many of them fell to the floor, gripping their ears in agony.

Natalie's ears rung painfully as she wept in Lizzy's arms. She saw Fred, the only one still standing, turning and running for his life as the bird lifted its huge wings and flew after him.

The ringing was so loud that she could not hear anything else, but she knew there was a lot of noise as Annabella was screaming something, and then everyone apart from her and Lizzy were running up the hill to where Granddad Nigel was.

She looked up at Lizzy and saw that she was starring into the direction where Fred had run. Natalie had seen Lizzy scared or worried a lot in the few months she had known her- but this was the most terrified she had ever seen her sort-of step mom look.

"It's ok;" she tried to say, "Fred will be alright." But the ringing was too powerful.

Lizzy looked down at her charge as Natalie let out a low whine. She was still gripping her ears. Lizzy took a sugar cube out of Natalie's back-pack (sugar she had packed for the 'good' monsters) and popped one in her mouth.

The girl sucked and chewed and as her ears slowly unlocked, the ringing lessened.

"Can you hear me?" she asked the child.

Natalie nodded and was rewarded with a tight smile.

"Lizzy! Lizzy!"

Lizzy looked up and saw Annabella hurtling towards her. "Lizzy, you need to get up and see your dad, it's bad!"

Lizzy gulped and nodded. Annabella ran back up the hill, but Lizzy couldn't. Her legs felt weak and she was holding the hand of Natalie, who was much slower at walking because of her little legs.

Lizzy dreaded what she would find on the hill. She could see everyone standing in a circle looking down. Janey was putting her hand on her mouth and Mickey wrapped him arm around her.

Lizzy watched the action without feeling, but glanced down to see that Natalie was watching as well with a similar expression. The girl noticed she was being watched and looked at Lizzy. Neither said anything.

What if her father was dead? How would she feel? She barely knew him. Would they think she was callous if she simply didn't cry?

Lizzy looked back to where Fred had run. Her stomach lurched at the thought of him being torn apart by a giant angry bird and not for the first time she wished she was Janey; if Janey had a man she cared about, she would have run after him and the bird, regardless of the danger.

Lizzy gripped Natalie's hand more tightly. Why was she so weak?


	20. Jungfrauenadler

Fred ran through the city streets. Almost everywhere he could see humans hiding in the shadows. The group he was with were so stupid. They didn't notice or see anything; they thought they were practically alone in that city when in fact it was teeming with life. The only reason he hadn't spotted the Jungfrauenadler before it attacked was because he had been distracted by Lizzy.

Her visage flashed in his mind and he tripped over. The Jungfrauenadler was on him in a second. She shrieked loudly, causing him to flinch into a foetal ball.

Fred's eyes were squinted shut but he could hear crackling and snapping above him. He tentatively opened them again and saw now that while the lower half of the bird's body was the same, she now had the head and torso of a woman. No arms were present, they were still wings.

He glanced at her breasts (couldn't help it,) and then up at her face, before smiling smugly. He knew that she would find it irritating, but in his immaturity he just couldn't help purposely winding her up.

She glowered at him. _"You little fool," _she spat, speaking in ancient _German "my Mistress demands the whereabouts of the seedling you stole."_

"I don't have it!" he sang in clear, modern English, thinking quickly of a way to distract her, "maybe she should ask one of her children."

"_You owe your fealty to The Queen, not her babes, and you always have done!"_

"I don't owe fealty to anyone;" he barked angrily, "the Seer freed us all! I just happen to prefer the Twins and decided to give them the little necklace. You know how Freya loves her jewellery."

"_INGRATE_!" she roared, a shriek covering her word and reminding Fred that she wasn't a woman, but a powerful monster. _"You utter words of sacrilege!. Even if I serve the Great Mistress Nerthus, I still hold a respect for her offspring. I hate you little elves… everyone hates you elves. Jumped up humans with wool for brains, sex on the mind and no self respect…The Seer was a fool to let you loose on Midgard-"_

"And yet," Fred interrupted, "we ingrates still managed to out-wit you silly little virgin birds. Search me if you want, I don't have the necklace."

He held out his arms and lay very still as if awaiting her to search him.

"_Then your entourage!"_ she roared in frustration, "_they must have the necklace."_

She stood away from him and looked back to whence they had come. Fred, thinking of Lizzy and Natalie, leapt up in a temper, "I told you that the Twins have the necklace."

"_Lies_," crooned the bird, _"after the Seer freed you, you were loyal to no one. But now the Seer is gone- dead some say,"_ She looked back at him and her head slowly began to morph into that of a bird, "_and now your loyalty must return to the Queen. She's the one who made you and who freed you to Midgard the first time. We are returning to the grand days of old- soon everyone will know of Nerthus. She will rise again, only this time, the whole world shall be in her grasp."_

"What are you on about? She never freed me!"

But the Jungfrauenadler was back in its full bird form and unable to converse anymore.

"That bitch never freed me," he continued dangerously, the bird beginning to seethe at his rude words, "she never did! I remember…I remember being angry…because…because she tricked me! She tricked me!"

The sky began to turn very dark and Fred felt the dark force he held deep inside his soul beginning to uncoil itself. Fred couldn't remember the situation, it was only flashing images, but he could remember his feelings. Long ago he had been promised something by Queen Mab… by Nerthus, but she had tricked him. He remembered the feelings of hate and misery that had remained in him for years, twisting him into something bitter and angry all until the Seer and the children came along.

Thick storm clouds rolled across the sky, flashes of lightening between the storm clouds followed by the rumble of thunder but no rain fell. The bird cried out its warrior shriek and stabbed its beak at Fred, who leapt backwards, away from it easily. He glanced at the ground and saw a large telephone pole. It was long and broken. Perfect.

As the Jungfrauenadler lifted itself in the air, circled once then swooped down at him, its dangerous talons out for the kill, Fred picked up the pole and in a millisecond faded just as the bird reached the ground, before reappearing again in the same spot, piercing her through her chest before she could get away.

The pole had red blood running down it and on to Fred, who twisted the pole for good measure. The bird screamed in agony before falling back.

Fred watched coldly as her feathers all fell away and all that was left was the naked body of a human girl. She had been a human once, all the Jungfrauenadler were, a young virgin girl stolen by Queen Mab to live with the fey. She had probably been a nun, judging by her shorn hair and as that was Nerthus' favourite hunting spot for her bird-like slaves.

After making sure she was definitely dead, Fred walked away. The clouds were still heavy and present, but the thunder and lightning had stopped. Had he caused the weather to change? He knew the Twins were capable of such feats, they were the gods of spring after all, but it made no sense for one as lowly as him to have such capabilities.

He rubbed his forehead in frustration. He was remembering some things and felt more aware of himself and his life than he ever had before. For centuries every day had been new and his life and the lives of his children were a blur. But now a string of memories was beginning to compile itself in his mind. He didn't like it; it was confusing and he couldn't get anything straight. Memories were like water, one moment he had them and could comprehend them, the next tat had drained away and he was lost all over again.

"It's Lizzy's doing," he muttered, unconsciously brushing a hand through his hair before focusing on the small white patch at the nape of his neck, "with all her questioning I am starting to remember. Who do I owe loyalty to? Who do I serve? It can't be me, I don't know anything. It must be the Twins, they wanted the Seer back and so I am looking for him on their behalf… but still…."

He steadily made his way back to the rest of the group. He could smell the blood of humans, and it wasn't just the blood on his clothes.

He thought about Lizzy. In his time as Natalie's friend (those memories were very clear to him now) he had strong opinions on her parents; he'd thought Mickey was a waste of space and he had thought her mother was a terrible human being. But Lizzy was something of a blur to him, despite the fact that she was so prominent in Nit-Head's life, it was as if he had ignored her existence. Perhaps it was because Natalie was fond of her? Maybe he only noticed adults that annoyed him?

He crossed into the street where the rest of the gang were. He could see them up ahead and could sense the drama. The smell of blood was stronger and he could tell something was very wrong. He looked for Natalie and saw her gripping Lizzy's hand tightly. Lizzy looked pale, but uninjured.

He felt his chest relax and frowned. When had Lizzy become as important as Natalie?

Fred hung back, watching quietly as he tried to figure it out. It wasn't unusual for Fred to do this; often in his life as an Imaginary Friend he'd had times were he had made himself invisible and simply observed events in front of him. Fred didn't have the mind of an adult, he wasn't allowed to, but he was a grown up and as a result his mind inevitably clashed within itself whenever he was in or witnessing a difficult situation. Considering the types of children he looked after, that often was the case he was in.

Fred looked at them all; Annabella, Mickey, Janey and so on…and realised that he had little to no feeling for them. Not even Mickey, who he had known as long as Natalie. But when he saw Lizzy, he felt a deep fondness and warmth for her. The fact that she was attractive wasn't the only thing about her; Annabella was attractive but he didn't care about her, he just liked looking at her. Big difference. No, Lizzy had some sort of hold over him, he didn't feel the need to protect her the way he did Nit-Head, but that made sense as she was an adult and so could look after herself. So what was it?

Lizzy had said that they used to be friends. Perhaps she was telling the truth. Perhaps they really had known each other. She had once been an adorable little girl who he protected. The feelings he had for her were perhaps his emotions remembering what he could not.

He walked towards the group, staring at her the entire time, still as deep in thought as he could go.

'But it's still different,' his mind argued as he closed in on the group and began to hear a soft weeping, 'the feelings I have for her are different to the ones I have for anyone else…'

Lizzy looked at him, her eyes very brown and warm and full of tears.

He gulped and his heart skipped a beat.

Definitely different.

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**Please show support and leave a review. I would love to know how you all feel about this story.**


	21. When Polly met Nigel

**A.N.- *Weeps for joy* yay, I got reviews! Thank you ashmandalc for reviewing, and I'm really happy you are enjoying the story. If you log in I can answer you personally :) I think I'm ok for a beta for now, but I'll let you know if that ever changes. I hope you like this chapter :)**

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A pretty little girl with big, pale blue eyes and brown curls sat on a tree stump and looked out at the horizon. There was a small stream just outside of her family's back garden. The day was scorching and she was desperate to run out, rip off her clothes and dive into the cool water.

But she wasn't allowed, all because of her stupid cry-baby sister.

"Polly!" her mother's voice called out. She rolled her eyes in response, "Polly get inside. I need your help with putting out dinner."

'_What am I, her servant?'_ Polly thought bitterly. She stood up, her eyes still trained on the stream. It was so stupid that her mother wouldn't let her do anything just because Sarah was always so scared. It wasn't fair.

'_When I grow up, I'll swim all I want and eat ice-cream every day,' _she promised herself defiantly.

"POLLY!"

xxXXxx

"What's going on?"

Lizzy turned when she heard the familiar raspy, accented voice of Fred.

She looked at him with eyes full of tears and wished she was stronger in his presence. He stared at her and she stared back at him with soft, shocked eyes.

"It happened when you led the bird away…" she began, her voice soft and shaken.

Indeed it had. After Fred had left and Lizzy managed to make her way up the hill, she was preparing herself for the worst going by how viciously the bird had gone for Nigel and by everyone else's reactions. She arrived at the top of the hill and Janey looked at her.

"Lizzy, maybe you shouldn't see this."

"See what?"

She looked over and saw blood on the ground. Nigel was on his knees, gripping his arm. Blood was pouring from the top if it.

He turned and looked at her. His glasses were cracked and he looked stressed, "Lizzy…Lizzy…" he began but seemed to have nothing to say.

Lizzy frowned and, letting go of Natalie's hand, stumbled closer to him. He was hurt, but she couldn't understand everyone's shocked reactions. But it was as she reached her father that she saw…a few feet away further down the hill, her mother lay lifeless on the ground.

"She leapt on the bird," Nigel panted, "she tried to get him off me."

It was as if the blood froze in her veins. She hadn't known how she would react to her father being hurt, she didn't know him really. But her mother…she knew her mother.

Without thinking Lizzy slid down the hill, falling to her mother's side.

Polly was lying face down, so Lizzy pulled her up and rested her head on her lap. Polly was covered in welt and cuts and looked like she was going to be heavily bruised. Lizzy put her hand in front of her mother's mouth and relieved to find she was still breathing, but just barely.

"Mom?" she called quietly, "mom? Can you hear me?"

"We need to get help," she heard Janey saying, "you said that the University is not far right Nigel?"

"You can see it," Nigel said painfully, jerking his head forwards.

Sure enough, just over the rubble, the white Cathedral-like rooftop of the University could be seen.

"That's not even five minutes," gushed Mickey excitedly, "we can make it! I'm sure they'll have medical care there."

"What about Fred?" asked Annabella, looking up as the sky suddenly turned dark and the wind began picking up. "Shouldn't we wait for him?"

"We have two injured," Mickey argued, "I'm sure he can find us. We need to help them first."

Lizzy stared at her mother's face, half listening to the conversation around her. 'She won't make it,' she thought, 'mother won't make it to the University.' She closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath.

The others were trying to find something they could carry Polly on, but her father sidled up beside her.

"Your mother is a real Valkyrie," he said fondly, "I've always respected that about her. She had her faults, but she really was quite tough, and that's never easy for a woman to be. She saved my life, jumping on the bird like that, it was enough to stop it from giving me a vicious strike with its beak before your friend, Fred, came along and distracted it." As he spoke he wrapped his arm tightly with a strip of material Annabella had torn off the bottom of her shirt. "Even the whole business with Fred when you were little," he continued, "it was only because she loved you. She was frightened of the whole Fred thing. I wasn't…but she had a real issue with it. Everything she does is out of love." He touched Lizzy's hair and brushed his hand down it, "she'll get through this."

Lizzy blinked and saw tears were falling from her eyes. She understood what Nigel was doing, but she knew it wasn't true. Her mother hadn't liked her very much and she never had. Some things she had done to Lizzy were out of malice, not love, but that still wasn't enough to sever the deep love Lizzy had for her mother.

"She was there," she whispered, her voice hoarse, so Nigel leaned in, "even when you left, she at least, was still there."

Nigel moved away, uncomfortable. "I…I better go help the others. Keep holding her head like that, there's a good girl."

Lizzy looked up at the black clouds. They seemed angry and wild. Somehow she knew that Fred had summoned them. The wind lifted her short, dark hair and she wondered he was and if he was ok.

"Mother," she muttered, looking back at Polly, "mother I wish you had loved me more."

xxXXxx

The first time Nigel held Lizzy in his arms, he had cried. She was so small, with a thatch of dark hair on her head and bright blue eyes. He had always considered babies slightly ugly, like small, squashed old men, but Lizzy was different. Lizzy was beautiful.

They had named her Elizabeth after Elizabeth the first of England. He wanted her to have a strong name. He had decided that with a mother like Polly, baby Lizzy could use all the strength she could get.

Polly and Nigel had been on the outs for a long time, and until the pregnancy, he'd been preparing to leave. Nigel had been angry at first, and convinced that Polly had gotten pregnant on purpose. But as he held the small bundle of pure happiness in his arms all he could think of was how lucky he was and how everything was different. Not just his life but the entire universe, for now there was a new life in it. Who knew how Lizzy might affect the world?

For the first time in years of an unhappy marriage, Nigel had felt like at long last he and Polly had something to celebrate. He had turned to Polly, exhausted from childbirth, and handed her the baby.

It really was then that he should have known something was wrong. Perhaps he had, but in his own rapture he'd refused to see it.

Polly had taken Lizzy and just stared at her blankly. She wasn't even holding her tightly, but loosely in her arms.

"Isn't she beautiful?" he had whispered, sitting down beside mother and child and kissing Polly's forehead.

Polly had frowned, "is she definitely mine?"

He'd laughed, "of course she is!"

"There's been no mistake?"

"No," he grinned, feeling more love for Polly than he ever had before, "no, she is ours. Aren't we lucky?"

He had cried a little then, from relief and happiness.

Polly remained silent the whole time.

xxXXxx

Natalie sat on the top of the hill facing away from the rest of the group and waiting for Fred. She did not like how things were going. She didn't like that Fred could be seen by the others and that he was so clearly unhappy. She didn't like that her daddy didn't like him. She didn't like that Lizzy was sad, or that daddy was falling in love with another lady (_again_). She didn't like that Granddad Nigel was hurt or that it looked like Grandma Polly was dead and Lizzy was sad and all alone. She wanted Fred back, even if that meant sharing him with Lizzy.

Natalie glanced behind her and saw Lizzy sitting with Polly's head on her lap. Lizzy's head was bent.

Natalie turned away quickly, feeling like she was spying. Annabella walked over and sat beside her, "hey kid, you alright?"

Natalie shook her head. She glanced at Annabella. She was pretty. She looked like a Barbie doll. She was even dressed like a Barbie- only wearing some cut-off jean shorts and a thin top which she had ripped the bottom off, so now it was a crop-top.

"Waiting for your friend?"

She nodded.

"Why's he called Drop Dead Fred?" asked Annabella, who'd been curious about the name for a long time, and had only decided to speak to Natalie in the hopes of finding out.

"Because that's his name," was the reasonable reply.

Thunder rumbled over head, but it seemed as if the storm was fading almost as suddenly as it had arrived.

"Yeah, but _why's_ he called that? Is he dead? Or does everyone want him dead?"

Natalie sighed like an adult before responding, "I don't know…"

Annabella shrugged, feeling awkward. She wasn't good around kids. She'd never wanted any of her own. However, the whole situation with her ex-boyfriend's children had made a large impression on her. The guilt still followed her everywhere and kept her up at night, despite her knowledge that there really was nothing she could have done. As a result, she began to notice children more, their presence was made known to her and she found herself paying attention to them and quietly wishing she was able to connect with them. Maybe if she understood children better, she'd be better at protecting them. After all, hadn't Fred been a protector of Lizzy? She wasn't sure he was very good at it, but thanks to him Lizzy had the strength to leave her ass-hole husband and defy her admittedly terrifying and over-bearing mother. He was like some sort of demented golem, a creature of childish destruction bought forth through the misery of its master.

"Look, what's wrong? You seemed happy before, but now you aren't."

"Too many bad things are happening," answered Natalie, unable to properly explain her feelings or fears. "I just want Fred to come back. I want him to look after Lizzy."

"Really?" Annabella was genuinely shocked, "you don't want him back to look after you?"

Natalie stood up and looked at Annabella, "Fred once said that he would have to leave me and I would have to make friends on my own. I was sad at the time, but now I feel ok. But Lizzy isn't ok."

"Lizzy's an adult," said Annabella, feeling frustrated suddenly with Lizzy, "she can look after herself- you don't need to be scared for her. Besides she has her friend and your dad to look after her anyway."

"My dad is falling in love with Janey," stated Natalie bluntly, "he keeps looking at her and touching her. You know that as well. It's not fair when somebody has no one who loves them. I'm ok with Fred being friends with someone else."

Natalie walked away to help the others who had found a large door which they could put Polly on. Annabella stood up herself and watched the child curiously. She had no idea children could be so selfless. Her traumatic experience with Sacha, Becky and Andy had taught her that children could be brave but she had always thought that they were essentially selfish creatures. She looked down at Lizzy who was sitting alone with her dying mother. It was true about Mickey and Janey, she had seen it herself. Maybe she should tell them to cool it, especially if the kid was noticing. But still, to think that Lizzy would be alone again. She had thought that Lizzy deserved it, that if someone as pretty as her couldn't keep a man that maybe something was wrong with her, but now Annabella felt like an ass- she couldn't keep a man either and she was also estranged from her closest family members.

xxXXxx

Polly, like Annabella, had never wanted children. As a child she had said that, as a teenager she had said that, and as a young woman she had said that.

Then she met Nigel.

She had been sitting in the University library pouring over a book and desperately trying to understand it. Unbidden a thought whispered, 'Sarah would have understood this…' but she brushed it away quickly.

There was a loud sound behind her, which made her turn and look. A young, blond man stood with a furiously red face. Several large tomes were at his feet in a crumpled heap.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, his accent instantly recognisable as English, "I didn't mean to make all that noise." He picked up the books quickly as she watched in fascination.

He was thin and looked like he belonged at Oxford University prancing around with tutors who wore black Graduate cloaks. He was bookish, and clearly awkward, but endearing and oddly handsome in an angular manner.

Polly had never had any luck with men. She tended to go for very American, broad boys, but they never were attracted to her. She was pretty, but she was mean. As it was, she was in university and twenty-three, but she had never had a boyfriend.

"I'm Polly," she smiled, feeling strange as her heart beat raced at her daring to speak to him. He looked up at her with soft brown eyes.

"I am Nigel," he grinned. "Pleased to meet you, may I sit next to you?"

"Of course," she whispered. No one had wanted to sit by her before. She thought of her hair pulled up in a ponytail and her unattractive polo-sweater; why hadn't she worn more attractive clothes?

"May I ask what you are reading?"

"Oh, umm, it's Beowulf. I don't really understand it." She felt stupid admitting her ignorance, but she had seen pretty girls acting dumb before, and it seemed to always attract guys. Maybe this is what she needed to do, change herself for a guy? It was anti-feminist, which was launching again in sixties America, but she really liked this guy.

Nigel laughed softly, "well it's a different language, so that's ok. I studied it in school and can speak a little Anglo-Saxon, shall I help you?"

From then on the pair began dating. Polly did her best to conceal herself. She smiled and giggled and twisted her brown hair around her finger. They went to café's and listened to Beat poetry. They visited Jazz bars and listened to Folk Music at independent music festivals. They went on a number of rallies together and both began, and failed, to be vegans at the same time as one another. They went to see Angry Man British Cinema films. They were best friends and lovers. They were part of the sixties, part of the New Wave and together they were helping change the world. Polly didn't want that to change.

Finally, in 1966 they got married in a small registry office. There were no family, Nigel having no living relatives left, and Polly being completely estranged from her own.

Nigel was happy, with the woman he loved. Polly was exhausted.

For three years she had been pretending to be someone she wasn't. She had tried little experiments, letting her true self slip through the cracks now and then to see if Nigel accepted her anyway, but that wasn't the case.

For example, she'd say something mean about a film star or about the quality of a musician. In response Nigel would cock his head and quietly admonish, "come on Polly, this isn't you."

Polly loved Nigel, even when he irritated her with his naiveté or his laissez-faire attitude, but Nigel did not love Polly, he didn't know her.

The first night of their wedding, spent in a cheap hotel, while he slept peacefully, she had wept. What was she going to do? Could she keep up the charade forever?

The answer was no, of course.

The first argument had been but a month into the marriage. She was tired and angry and he was being- to her mind- stupid and difficult. He had been horrified by her behaviour, and had left the house.

Polly felt like her heart had been ripped out when he left. Nigel was her first and only love. She had been alone almost all her life. She hadn't any friends; her family hadn't liked her and there was too much past drama there that no one could come back on; no other man would take her and she knew that. She had put too much work into capturing Nigel to let it all fail now.

She sat in the living room, a young woman still, and realised that if she lost Nigel, then she really was lost. It would mean that she had no one. She could not handle that.

Polly won Nigel back eventually; it helped that he desperately wanted things to work out. Polly couldn't always hide her true nature, which repelled the soft-hearted Nigel, but the following five years she would find ways to get him back. She faked illness, she made him jealous by pretending she had started dating someone else during one of their break-ups, she even faked a pregnancy and subsequent miscarriage.

It was the last nasty trick, (which had devastated Nigel who had been keen to be a father,) that gave her the idea of getting pregnant for real.

She hated the idea of getting fat and useless and then having a wailing brat taking up her time and money, but if that child was part of Nigel, part of herself and the thing that kept them together, then it was worth it. She would even love the baby, she was certain of that.

Polly began to dream of a little boy; preferably a little blond like Nigel. He would be her little man, her little soldier. He would have Nigel's sweetness so he could have the popularity she never had, but he would have her steel so that he'd never be anyone's fool.

She loved the child she dreamt of in her head. She could see Nigel reading him bedtime stories, and the pair of them falling asleep as she watched from the bedroom doorway.

But life, like always, pulled a nasty trick of its own on Polly.


	22. Bye Bye Polly

"God, you are so stupid!" nine-year old Polly raged, "I don't know how I put up with you, I really don't!"

"Stop being mean to me Pol," whined Sarah, her eyes big and blue and her brown hair long and straight, "I'm your only friend, you should be nicer to me."

Polly whirled around and stared at her little sister, "I have plenty of friends!" she whispered, "how _dare_ you lie about me! I only play with you because **you** have no friends!"

Sarah crossed her arms defiantly, "do so."

The girls were in the barn sitting on haystacks and playing School; Polly was the teacher and Sarah was her stupid pupil.

"A make-believe friend does not count as a friend," answered Polly, feeling coolly angry. Her little sister was such a dolt it drove her insane; she couldn't believe they were related.

"I can't make friends at school because you're a big bully and are mean to everyone," argued Sarah, unfolding her arms and raising her voice a little, "but it's ok because my friend is not make-believe, he's invisible."

Polly snorted a nasty laugh.

Sarah stood up, anger on her face, "I don't want to play with you, I'm going to play with him. He's nice. He helps me be brave, not like you. You like me being scared all the time because it makes you feel big and strong when you're not."

She stalked away.

"Fine!" shouted Polly after her, "leave and play with your magical invisible friend, you big Stupid! You're too much of a baby anyway- you're even too scared to go swimming! Everyone is big and strong compared to you, even little Ladybirds!"

She sat down on her haystack and crossed her legs. This nonsense of an invisible friend started two weeks ago and Polly didn't believe a word of it. It was so silly. Mother and Father just laughed it off and thought it was sweet even though Sarah did a ton of naughty stuff and said her imaginary friend made her do it. If it had been Polly who had done any of it, she'd get in trouble, but when it was Sarah and her ''friend'' it was cute. God, everyone was so thick!

It wasn't true about her being a bully either. It was just that she had good ideas and the dumb kids at school never wanted to hear them. Polly reckoned it's because they were so clueless that they were jealous of her good ideas and so refused to follow them out of petulant spite. As for not wanting to be friends with Sarah, that's because Sarah was boring and a scaredy-cat and homely. Polly picked up a small hand mirror she owned and preened a little in it. At least she was pretty; her hair was naturally curly and she always wore pretty, frilly dresses. Sarah had straight hair that was far too long and always ran around in blue (ugh- a boy's colour) dungarees and chequered T-shirts, like a tow-truck driver or something.

"Polly!" Her mother was shrieking her name again.

Polly groaned.

"Polly! POLLY?!"

"In here," she responded at last, just to get her mother to stop screaming. Her mother, Betty, walked into the barn. Her black hair was in a tight, sensible bob and she wore the same clothes as any of the male farmhands. Polly couldn't believe that father allowed mother to go around looking like that. Even though there was no war and women could go back to being normal housewives, here her mother was, acting like a man and being an annoyance as well as an unattractive embarrassment.

"Where is your sister?" Betty demanded.

"She stormed off to play with her imaginary friend."

"Haven't your father and I told you a thousand times to not leave her alone?" thundered her mother furiously. Polly bit her tongue to hold back a retort.

"Go find her now!" Betty yelled, "I want you both I the kitchen and waiting for lunch in five minutes."

"But mama-!"

"FIVE MINUTES!"

Betty stormed away and Polly, not for the first time, felt keenly aware that her mother did not like her very much. It was clear that both she and father liked Sarah so much more; maybe they felt sorry for her. But it didn't make Polly feel less full of resentment.

"Sarah!" she called, leaving the barn and feeling the summer sun beating down on her with its relentless heat, "Sarah where are you? Mama wants us. Sarah!"

She walked around the farmhouse to the back garden. The tree stump stood empty. The large tree with the swing was also empty.

That swing had been built specially for Sarah. Polly hated it.

"Sarah! Sarah! Sarah! Sarah, _come on_! Where are you? Mama wants us!" Polly began to feel frantic. It was far too hot to be outside and she was well aware that mother was going to be very angry with her if she didn't get Sarah in soon.

She saw the garden fence and the stream trickling beyond it. Her parents were always telling them not to go beyond that fence. Polly had a few times to get to the stream to swim, and had been beaten for it. However Sarah always did as she was told.

'_Until recently,_' a voice in her mind said, '_her friend makes her braver and naughtier. She must have gone over the fence, just to prove a point to you about not being a scaredy-cat, if nothing else.'_

Polly sighed and walked towards the fence. She leaned against it and scanned the fields.

"Sarah!" she called more lazily, feeling tired and fed-up, "Sarah…" she looked down at the cool water.

She blinked.

And blinked again, slowly and hard, as if not quite believing her eyes.

Then she felt very cold and the blood drained from her face. Polly would tell herself later that she was alright… and she would keep up that mantra for the rest of her life. But she wasn't alright and she never would be ever again.

xxXXxx

"Come on Lizzy," she felt someone pulling her away from her mother, "come away Lizzy…"

Lizzy looked up and saw Janey was the one pulling her, holding her under her arms and attempting to her up. "Come on Lizzy _move_, we need to get Polly on to the door!"

Lizzy shook her head. She wanted to tell them that it was no good; that Polly was fading fast, but she couldn't get the words out.

Mickey took over from Janey, pulling Lizzy to her feet whilst the others took Polly and began to heave her onto the door.

Mickey left her to help the others, but Lizzy was surprised when a pair of arms suddenly wrapped themselves around her in a slightly awkward side-long embrace.

She turned to see it was Annabella holding her. "I'm sorry about your mother," the blonde said, looking a bit embarrassed.

Lizzy smiled softly and whispered, "thank you."

The smile on her lips felt fragile and fake, but she managed it anyway. She could tell that Annabella thought she was weak and pathetic and although Lizzy agreed with that surmise of her personality, she couldn't help feeling ashamed at the same time. She blinked a few times, trying to hold in the tears. She couldn't understand her own feelings. Mother had never been kind to her, yet why did she feel so awful now? Why did she feel as if her heart were breaking?

"Lizzy, come quick!" It was Nigel.

Polly's eyes were just barely opening. Lizzy stumbled over to her mother's side and knelt down to listen to her.

"Mother," she whispered, "mother can you hear me?"

"Tell her we're getting her to safety!" she could hear Mickey saying behind her before he yelled to Polly, "don't worry, we'll get you to the university Mrs Cronin! Tell her Lizzy, tell her!"

Lizzy closed her eyes and wished he would be quiet.

"Tell…tell…"

She opened her eyes and saw her mother trying to speak. She leaned down closer to her face and cried, "what is it? What are you saying?"

"Tell your stupid boyfriend to shut up," croaked Polly and Lizzy felt herself letting out a small laugh.

She looked at her mother, touching her face slightly. She didn't know what to say.

"How can you love me?" whispered Polly, "after everything I did?"

"I know you tried," Lizzy said, barely able to get the words out. "I know you wanted to be a good mother."

Polly watched her daughter. It was true, part of the reason why she was such a bad mother was because of her desperation to be a good one.

After she left the hospital with baby Lizzy and Nigel she spent long days all alone with Lizzy. She felt as if the walls of her house had become a cell. She had no friends and her life was no longer her own. Instead of winning back Nigel through being a loving mother, Polly had become more emotionally remote and angrier, pushing Nigel away from her.

She didn't love her baby and she had the strongest feeling that Lizzy was not her own. She kept thinking that her real baby had been taken by someone else and that she was stuck with this…alien thing.

Polly had known that what she was feeling would sound crazy to anyone else, so she had kept her thoughts to herself. She had hoped that as Lizzy grew older, perhaps she would grow to love her.

However, frustration with what would be her only child continued to develop. It seemed stupid…but for Polly it had been an awful experience raising her, and one particular feat of motherhood eluded her, and that had really destroyed her:

Lizzy wouldn't drink her breast milk.

She just refused, no matter what Polly did. Everyone said that formula was damaging and everyone made her feel (though few out-right said) that if your child had formula that you were a bad or irresponsible parent. Polly was bombarded with health experts on television going on about the dangers of formula, there were adverts telling her that 'natural' milk was best. And Polly tried, she really did, but Lizzy would only drink formula.

Polly remembered one fateful day- the day had ruined any relationship she and Lizzy could ever have. Nigel was out at work as usual. She had spent every day alone with her baby for the better part of a month, and it was steadily driving her quite insane. This particular lunchtime Lizzy was, as always, refusing to feed off her and was wailing in her crib. Polly had decided to starve Lizzy a little, deciding that she had spoiled the baby. Perhaps, if Lizzy became hungry enough, then she would take breast milk instead of formula? Problem solved!

But instead for the better part of an hour Lizzy continued to refuse Polly, and instead her wails became louder and more desperate. Polly never really spoke to Lizzy; there was no point talking to a newborn and she didn't understand the whole 'baby-talk' nonsense people (like Nigel) liked to do. However, she found herself first pleading with her baby, before angrily screaming back at it.

Aware that she was sounding like a lunatic and possibly the neighbours could hear, Polly, tired and desperate had finally snapped. She sat on the settee in the living room and sobbed, just ignoring her demon-baby screaming.

It was after about twenty minutes of this torture that Polly had gotten off the settee, picked up Lizzy and gone upstairs into the bathroom. Once there she placed the sniffling Lizzy on to the floor and began to fill the bath with cold water.

Lizzy was wailing again soon enough, she was hungry and wanted her formula milk.

Why hadn't Polly's been good enough?

Picking up the baby in almost a trance-like state, Polly had put Lizzy into the water. Lizzy had screamed at first, the cold hurting her… but then she stopped as Polly slowly dipped her completely into the water.

Polly watched as her baby kicked and fussed in the water, unable to breath. It was then that she flashed back…

She remembered Sarah in the water… Sarah who had looked so much like Lizzy did now …blue eyes open and starring…skin tinged pale blue…brown hair flowing out….

In that second Polly came to her senses enough to pull Lizzy back out of the water with a terrified gasp.

Lizzy had gone to hospital shortly afterwards, and the doctors were told that it was all an accident caused by a slightly negligent due to exhaustion mother leaving her child in the bath unsupervised for a moment.

Luckily Social Services, whilst called, were soon confident that it was all an accident and the whole thing blew over, but Polly never forgot. She knew now, and had come to accept in some ways, that her daughter was the spitting image of Sarah, her dead sister.

In some perverse way as Lizzy grew older she began to treat her like Sarah. She insisted that Lizzy had her hair out, long and straight. She loved her daughter wearing blue and didn't mind her slightly tom-boyish ways. She even pushed Lizzy around the same way she had her younger sister. She never explained any of this to Nigel, who as the years rolled by became increasingly convinced that she was simply a monster.

So, one day, when Lizzy came skipping down the stairs with uncharacteristic cheer, Nigel had asked her why she was so happy.

"Because of Drop Dead Fred," she'd replied.

Polly had been at the kitchen stove, making up a hearty weekend breakfast, and Lizzy and Nigel had sat at the table. Polly had rolled her eyes a little, assuming Lizzy was talking about some toy or cartoon that happened to have an unsuitably macabre name.

"Who's Drop Dead Fred?" Nigel asked with a warmth he never used towards Polly any more. She felt the sting of rejection and jealousy.

"My friend. He's invisible." Lizzy laughed, "but he's make me not scared!"

Polly had nearly fainted, she'd tipped over the frying pan of eggs and bacon, escaping with a few minor burns. Whilst Nigel had fussed over her, Polly had shrieked at Lizzy that she was not having an imaginary friend and that she was very naughty if she did. Lizzy had run away in tears and terror, and Nigel thought she had completely lost it. But she'd never been able to explain herself; she could never explain the tight, icy fear that Fred gave her.

She could not bear to tell Nigel that when she had been a little girl, she had bullied and harassed her sister into loneliness so that her only friend was some invisible, mischievous fiend; one that had ultimately gotten her killed.

Sarah had been afraid of the stream outside their farm for good reason. The water was cold and deceptively calm. The levels and speed of it could change dramatically and in a short period of time. It is why her parents had charged her with taking care of her sister when they were outside, and why they had beaten her when she played in the stream herself.

After finding Sarah, Polly had called over one of the farmhands, who cried out in horror and had leapt into the water to fish out the child. Sarah eyes were open and her skin was pale and her lips were blue.

Polly had run away. She hid out in the fields and was sick a few times. The face of her sister haunted her. She remembered hearing screams from the farm; her mother, crying over her baby being found dead.

Polly had hid for hours, until night came and she snuck back home. Betty had been sitting at the table, her black bob uncharacteristically ruffled and messy as testament to her pulling at it. Her father had locked himself away at in his office apparently refusing to deal with what had happened.

Polly always remembered Betty turning and looking at her; dark brown eyes devoid of emotion. Polly had never felt very loved by her parents; her father busy and distant (they said he was never quite 'right' after the war) and her mama seemingly tired and angry. Growing up was not easy, Polly felt like her parents now truly did not love her, that maybe they even hated her. In her adolescence she became increasingly irritable and frustrated with those around her and as a result, even more emotionally isolated. Her parents never stopped mourning Sarah. The swing on the tree remained; ever more desolate and morbid.

Polly left home the day after she graduated high school. She never called her parents, and never told them where she was moving to. She doubted that they cared.

As Lizzy grew older and Fred had been locked away in the box, there was a relief for Polly as she began to not look like Sarah any more. Lizzy's eyes and hair darkened, and she began to wear dresses and bows in her hair.

For a few years, Polly felt like she was in control. She never believed she loved Lizzy, but there was protectiveness there. She wanted Lizzy to have everything she didn't and as such behaved the opposite of Betty; she was attentive to Lizzy, paying attention to every detail in Lizzy's life and making sure that Lizzy did everything right.

But then disaster struck as the Imaginary Friend returned. Like her past was ever haunting her, it all came to a head when Lizzy returned one day to Polly, eyes dark and devoid of emotion, black hair cut into a sharp bob and Lizzy proclaiming her independence from Polly.

As Lizzy had walked away, leaving Polly holding the box, Polly decided that life was truly unfair and she couldn't wait until it was all over.

xxXXxx

Now, as a woman dying in the street, Polly looked up at her daughter who was now crying softly for her.

"Sarah," she gasped, causing Lizzy to frown, "Sarah is a shade…a shade…please find a way to save her!"

"But who is Sarah?" asked Lizzy.

Polly's eyes filled with tears and she began to sob, "my sister," she managed to whisper, "please…"

"We can't talk," Mickey interrupted, "we need to get to the University."

Janey grabbed Lizzy's arm, "come on, we have to go!"

But Lizzy pushed her away. She never noticed but everyone cast surprised looks at one another that Lizzy had just thrown off her friend.

"You have a sister?" asked Lizzy hurriedly, "and you know she is a shade?"

"She came to me, a few nights ago, please, use Fred, save her."

"I will, I swear mother." Lizzy was no longer crying, but gripping her mother's hand tightly. She had never seen Polly like this, so unreserved and so sad, "I swear."

"Thank you," sighed Polly, relief flooding her eyes. Memories swam in her mind, and she was slightly surprised to find that in her final moments, rather than seeing Nigel or Sarah or Betty…all she could see was Lizzy; Lizzy as a baby; Lizzy as a toddler; Lizzy pouting for getting told off; Lizzy going to school for the first time; Lizzy smiling; Lizzy getting married; Lizzy; Lizzy…

"I lo-" began Polly, but then darkness overtook, and she fell back, her last breath leaving. She never got to tell Lizzy what she had tried to say- and do- all of Lizzy's life.

Lizzy stood, eyes welling up again.

Everyone else was in shock.

"Is she…?" asked Mickey, "oh god is she dead?"

Someone must have said yes, but in that moment Lizzy merely felt a great depression, like a physical force pushing into her. She couldn't react, couldn't cry, only stand there, barely able to breathe. All she knew was that her mother was gone and all the years of fighting for approval, all the years wanting affection, were now all for nothing because Polly had died and nothing had changed, not even at the end. Not even when she was dying had she managed to tell Lizzy what she had always wanted to hear.

"What's going on?"

It was as if the lights had turned back on. Sound and her surroundings came back to her and the grief she felt overpowering her mind were thrown off her.

Lizzy turned when she heard the familiar raspy, accented voice of Fred. There was her friend, staring at her with unnaturally blue eyes. He was covered in blood and gore and yet she suddenly felt more relief with him than she did for any of the other people around her.

"It happened when you led the bird away…" she began, "it's my mother…she's…" Lizzy allowed a small shrug as a couple of tears escaped her eyes, "she's gone. She's dead."

She stopped and waited for a snort of derision or a nasty comment. Neither came. Instead, after a moment of simply looking at her, Fred simply reached out and tucked a bit of her hair behind her ear.

Lizzy let out a small quiet sob that was more of a sigh, and rushed in, hugging him tightly.

Fred froze for a moment; she could feel the tension thrumming through his thin body. But then, very loosely, he put one arm around her and held it there. Lizzy sighed a little in relief before burying her face deep into his neck. He smelt like pinewood and for some bizarre reason petrol. But it was Fred, and the scent was a familiar one of childhood she had forgotten. He was taller than she remembered as well; she was on tip-toe just to reach him. She could feel his body heat- it was too hot and his heartbeat was too fast. This was another thing from childhood she remembered, on those rare occasions when he would hug her, or let her lie hr head on his chest as he told a story. She had missed Fred, the Fred that she recognised not as a naughty child or petulant kid, but the Fred that was her friend.

Janey looked at Lizzy and then at Mickey, who was holding his daughter close to him. She couldn't understand it, why was Lizzy hugging Fred when she could be hugging her wonderful boyfriend instead?

As his daughter wept, Nigel stared down at the corpse of his ex-wife. He hadn't loved Polly for a long time, but she must have loved him. She had died saving him. He knelt down and touched her face softly. He had always thought she was beautiful, the most beautiful girl he'd ever known. The time he had spent with her (before Lizzy's birth) had been the happiest years of his life, even the hard times early in their marriage. It was only her treatment of Lizzy that had finally killed any love he'd had for her.

But now as he looked down at her broken body amongst the wreckage, Nigel couldn't help feeling that somewhere down the line, he'd failed his wife somehow.

* * *

**A.N. And then there were seven...**

**I hope you guys liked this chapter :)**


	23. Personal Revelations and Humility

**Last time:** The gang are finally only minutes away from the University when a creature- one of the giant birds that had attacked Fred earlier in the story- swooped out of the sky and attacked Nigel. Polly leapt onto the bird (known to Fred as a Jungfrauenadler) but was thrown off before Fred ran forward and distracted it. Fred and the Jungfrauenadler had a battle, which, thanks to his powers, Fred won. Meanwhile, Polly lay slowly dying, being ore injured by the bird than previously thought. As she lay dying she remembered when she first met Nigel, her early years with Lizzy and her childhood. She remembered how her youngest sister, Sarah, also had an imaginary friend and died in tragic circumstances. Now a Shade, Polly's dying wish to Lizzy is that she save Sarah. Before she dies, she never manages to say the words 'I love you' to Lizzy.

**And now…**

There was much debate over what to do with Polly's body. There was a general unwillingness to drag it all the way to the University, as there wasn't more chance she'd be buried there than out in the ruins of the City. However, it seemed cruel to leave her body out in the open and when Fred very casually said that her body would likely be eaten by something, Nigel finally decided that he would carry her body. After all, she had been his wife and other than Lizzy, he was the only person in the group who had any real connection to her. Everyone really had wanted Lizzy to make the decision on what to do with her mother, as no one had really cared for Polly, and she was next of kin. However, it seemed that Lizzy was completely detaching herself from the situation and wasn't saying anything.

Polly's face was covered, and then she was put on the door and dragged along with rope connected to the door, by Nigel for the rest of the journey. Without being asked, Lizzy silently joined him and pulled the door along with him.

Mickey watched her, feeling very sad but completely uncertain on what to say. Lizzy was often an enigma to him; he rarely understood what she was thinking and feeling. This was an unhappy fact for him to realise (around three months into their dating) because he'd always seen Lizzy as the Love of His Life. Turns out she really was just a kid he used to know, and an adult woman he liked (most of the time.)

It was Fred who surprised everyone when he (after glowering at Mickey protectively holding Natalie's hand) went over to Nigel and Lizzy and began to help them drag the door along. He did so with one hand and seemingly little effort, but the load for them suddenly became a lot lighter.

Mickey gritted his teeth; he should have thought of doing that. He looked down at his daughter, who returned his stare and even gave an encouraging smile as if to say, _'it's alright daddy.'_

"I thought you hated her," muttered Lizzy to Fred, "you always used to call her the Mega Bitch."

He snorted out a nasty chuckle, "really? I'm funny." A pause, "well she was a bitch. I don't like her."

Lizzy blinked slowly. Her mind felt like it was made of mush and she couldn't quite keep up with everyone. "You don't have to pull her along if you don't want to."

"Mickey Fart Pants has Nit-Head and so I can't go near her without him getting stroppy. You're the next best thing to Nit Face, being my friend and all. Not best friend…but friend."

She nodded, not showing that this hurt a little bit. It was just in a way; the first time Fred and she finally met, he had been desperate to see her, and she had made it more than clear that he was a far second best to Charles. It was a cosmic justice therefore, that the second time they met their roles were reversed.

"I don't know how I feel," she muttered after some time, "I was crying and I feel sad but I…I'm aware that she never really cared about me. I feel kind of angry with her at the same time. But then guilty for being angry. It's hard."

"Welcome to my world," answered Fred who was not good at giving out sympathy, "now you know how I feel. I don't understand _anything_ …anything about myself or what is really going on and it's shit."

"Really?" interrupted Nigel, who'd been listening in to their conversation curiously. He'd heard so much about Fred it was crazy to meet him in real life- and since Fred was such an inappropriate playmate for a child, he was desperate to know how he and Lizzy communicated. He had told himself to remain silent and just listen, but hearing Fred speak had prompted his academic interest in Fred as well. "You do not understand yourself?"

"He can't remember much," answered Lizzy after it was clear that Fred was suddenly sulking and not answering Nigel."We're thinking that Fred's been around for a really long time," explained Lizzy further, trying to explain without giving anything away that Fred had confided in her earlier, "and so his mind has slipped most of his memories away. He remembers Natalie, but hardly anything else before that."

Feeling relieved at Lizzy perking up slightly when not focusing in silence on her mother, Nigel encouraged the line of conversation.

"So do you know what you are?"

"A friend. Natalie's friend."

"Hmm, but that's your role Fred, not what you are. There's a difference." Nigel watched the strange red-head, who was looking straight on with a slightly sulky expression on his face. "Do you remember your home? You were not always with Lizzy when she was a girl and you were her friend."

Fred glanced at Lizzy, trying to remember her as a child. He just couldn't, everything was a grey blur. It was strange to think Natalie would grow up one day, and he would never see her. Fred wondered why for a moment. He touched the back of his hair automatically, feeling the white area and concentrating hard.

"The place I lived had hills and sunshine and blue skies and clouds. It never rained and was never overcast. When I think of it in my head, I think of the term Otherworld, but I think that what I call anywhere that isn't here." Fred waved his free arm at the general landscape. He was doing all the pulling now, with Nigel and Lizzy staring at him in fascination. If Fred had noticed all the weight he was carrying, he never showed it.

"And what is here?" breathed Lizzy.

"It's … well…it's in the middle."

"Aha!" Nigel cried, letting go of the rope completely, "Middle Realm or Midgard or Middle Earth. Just like in the old Nordic tales. Fred…earlier, before you were yourself, you said you were going to take Natalie to Alfheimer. In old Nordic tales, Alfheim was the home of the Light Elves."

Fred stayed silent, processing the information.

Lizzy stared. It was weird to think of Fred as an elf. Elves conjured up images of tiny green men jigging around a mushroom hand in hand. Fred was not one of those. Granted, her father had explained what elves were in the old days, but it didn't make it easier to swallow. It was as bizarre as finding out Mickey was a leprechaun, or Janey a fairy, or Annabella a demi-god.

"If you like Fred," Nigel said tentatively, "when we get to the University, I'll do whatever I can to make you remember everything. Maybe then we can find out what is going on and how to stop it."

Fred nodded quickly, not actually caring too much about his past, but hoping that maybe he could start to remember Lizzy.

xxXXxx

Further to the left of Lizzy, Nigel and Fred was the rest of the group. Mickey was walking hand in hand with Natalie. The sky was still dark, but slowly lightening.

"Weird weather, right Natalie?"

His daughter looked up at him, but said nothing before turning away, glancing at Fred as she did.

"Do you miss him?" Mickey noticed who she was looking at. He felt guilty at keeping her away from her friend, but Fred was not a good influence on a child. No one had mentioned it, least not of all Lizzy (though he could forgive her- her mother had just died after all) but after Fred had come back he was covered in even more blood, this time red and fresh. There was no guessing what had happened to the bird that attacked Nigel.

Mickey wasn't an idiot, he knew that Fred had helped them all by maiming, or killing, that thing and as Nigel had suggested earlier, it was useful to have him around. However, he was also temperamental, angry and violent- never mind a full grown adult. Mickey didn't want someone like that around his child. He had thought Fred was small and happy if not a little mischievous, not like how he really was at all. From the first time he had seen Fred crawling under Natalie's bed in the mirror, he had a bad and creepy feeling about Fred and it seemed on meeting him that his fears were not unfounded.

Lizzy seemed happy to have Fred all too herself again though. Mickey frowned, it was true their relationship had not been good and the circumstances revolving around Joanne's death had essentially killed it, but he had thought Lizzy was more invested in him and Natalie than she actually was. Any mother would have been comforting Natalie now; Lizzy should have been there with him and Natalie, holding Natalie's free hand, not chatting with her old, insane friend.

Speaking of Joanne, Natalie still did not know her mother was dead. He would have to speak to her, when they were safe at the University. He would probably have to do it alone, Lizzy would complain that she was too weak or worried to do it. He sighed, feeling frustrated and for the first time sympathised a little with Lizzy's ex-husband. Lizzy was kind of aggravating sometimes; it was like dealing with a frightened little girl instead of an adult woman.

Maybe she and Fred deserved each other; two big kids together.

'_I hate what this is doing to me,'_ he thought miserably_, 'I used to be a _fun_ guy. I got thrown out of a restaurant for goodness sake! But now I sound all stern. This isn't who I am…' _ He glanced over at Fred and the others again, '_I suppose it's because this isn't about spaghetti throwing, this is about someone who's psychotic. I'm right about this, I know I am. When we get to the University, I'll call things off with Lizzy. It's about time anyway. I haven't been happy for a long time and I think Natalie deserves better.'_

They saw the University in front of them and everyone unconsciously began to walk faster before anything else could get in the way and slow them down (or kill them.)

The University was reasonably large, it was in the shape of a square and had a courtyard in the middle of it which was open for students, not unlike Britain Medieval Castles. It was made of large, white bricks and stood tall and imposing. That was not to say however that the disaster of the last twenty-four hours had not affected it. All the windows were boarded up and outside it were small fires and general debris and destruction. Around it houses were ruined but the University stood strong. It was simply too mighty to bring down.

"Nigel was right to bring us here," muttered Janey to Annabella who nodded in agreement.

They walked through the main gates (which had been torn open) and onto the drive leading up to the front door. The railings of the main gates and fence surrounding the university were mangled and bits of flesh and gore hung off them.

The group stared as they passed, Mickey now carrying Natalie and putting her face against his chest so she wouldn't see.

"The gates are made of iron," said Nigel clearly enough for everyone to hear before he turned to Fred to continue, "and according to a lot of mythology, iron is repellent to the supernatural. Is this true?"

Fred shrugged, "I don't know. It doesn't bother me, but some of the old ones don't like it."

"The old ones? Who are they?"

"The ones that are old," scoffed Fred as if Mickey had been particularly stupid asking such a question.

There was then a soft growl. They all turned to see a strange creature climbing down the stone statues outside the University.

The creature looked like a lion at first glance, but two short eagle wings were on its back, and its face, when it looked at them, was bizarrely humanoid.

The creature sat in front of the University's large doors (which were normally always open). It licked its paws calmly as they anxiously approached. There was a deep reverberating hum; like a cat's purr but heavier and deeper.

"I believe it's a Sphinx," whispered Nigel.

"**I am,"** said the creature, without moving its mouth.

They all shivered. The voice of the Sphinx was of a female and very low and deep. It came across as intelligent and dangerous. They walked towards it slowly, even Fred looked a little wide eyed and nervous.

The Sphinx stopped licking its paw and instead stared at them face on. The purring stopped.

"A-are we allowed in the University?" asked Nigel.

"**You are,"** said the voice again, now sounding more masculine. It seemed it alternated between the two genders. **"But only after you have answered all three of my riddles correctly."**

Nigel sighed_. Of course._ He turned to face the others, "what do you think?"

"It's too late to turn back now," said Janey.

"We've come too far already," continued Mickey.

"And we have nowhere else to go," reminded Annabella.

Lizzy looked down at the door carrying the wrapped body of her mother. They couldn't carry her anywhere else and Lizzy wasn't going to leave her mother's body unburied and in the streets.

Fred watched her closely. Part of him wanted to give her a slap and shout that her mother was an absolute witch who never loved her, so she should stop moping. However, he was aware that his _slight_ temper was getting in the way of him being allowed to be with his best friend Nit-Head, so he remained silent.

"Do you know much about Sphinxes Fred?" Janey had slunk up to him without him noticing, he must have really focused on Lizzy; that woman really was a distraction.

He turned to Janey, seeing her staring up at him (clearly finding him fascinating- he didn't blame her) and answered, "no, never even seen one before. I didn't know they even existed."

"R-really?"

"What happens if we lose?" Nigel asked the creature.

"**Then I will eat you all."**

Nigel gulped and looked back to the others. They looked frightened but determined. Lizzy hesitantly took hold of Fred's hand, and he didn't pull away. Mickey glanced down at his daughter. If that thing attacked there was no way he could protect her, however…he looked over to where Fred stood.

Kissing his daughter on the head he walked over to the Former Imaginary Friend.

"Fred," he said quietly, making Fred and Lizzy look at him in surprise, "I need you to look after Natalie if things go wrong."

Fred nodded silently, apparently dumb-founded. With effort, Mickey passed Natalie over into Fred's arms, Fred letting go of Lizzy's hand to grasp the child. Lizzy didn't even notice, instead she stood beside Mickey, "that was a good thing to do," she muttered, "I realise how hard that must have been."

"Natalie's the most important thing in the world to me," he answered simply. She smiled softly and nodded and for a moment the pair realised why they cared about each other. Sure, it probably wasn't love and never really had been. But what Lizzy and Mickey had always shared was a friendship. So instead of slipping her hand into Fred's, she held Mickey's hand and she, Fred, Natalie and Mickey all stood together, finally united.

"Alright," Nigel said, "we accept you challenge."


	24. NOT a chapter- RIP Rik Mayall

Hi guys, really sorry it's not a chapter. I just wanted to tell everyone that the actor who played Fred, Rik Mayall, has died today, aged 56 :( It;s a very sad day.

So, to say goodbye, I thought it would be nice to use a quote by his character Rick (aka 'The People's Poet') from their BBC TV Show 'The Young Ones.'

**Rick:** This house will become a shrine, and Punks and Skins and Rastas will all gather round and hold their hands in sorrow for their fallen leader. And all the grown-ups will say, "But why are the kids crying?" And the kids will say, 'Haven't you heard? Rick is dead! The People's Poet is dead!'

"And then one particularly sensitive and articulate teenager will say, "Other kids, do you understand nothing? How can Rick be dead when we still have his poems?""

- R.I.P Rik Mayall, we still have your poems.


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